Forging Destiny
by White Angel of Auralon
Summary: When Harry left the Dursley's after blowing up his aunt he didn't imagine how his life would change. Meeting a man who can bring light to the past, Harry discovers secrets kept from him his whole life.
1. Blowing up Aunt Marge

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, just the idea for this story.**

**This is my first Harry Potter story and I hope you like the idea. I got some inspiration from other stories I read so far and will give credit if I used an idea from a certain story to the respective author at the beginning of the chapter.**

**General Summary: Starts after Harry leaves the Dursleys after blowing up his aunt. But this time he doesn't call the night bus. He meets a man who will bring light to the past and answer many questions Harry has bottled up over the years. A Sirius takes charge fic. Dumbledore bashing.**

**Hope you like it and please write constructive reviews.**

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**Blowing up Aunt Marge**

Harry didn't know how he deserved this. He tried so hard to ignore the taunts and insults his 'aunt' threw at him and so far he had been able to keep his calm. But this was too much. It was one thing to insult him for no good reason, but a totally different thing to insult his parents who had given their lives to save him from Voldemort. She really deserved being stuck at the ceiling of the room. He had had enough, he would leave Privet Drive. It had never been a home to him. He pulled his trunk with all his school gear with him and left number 4 Privet Drive. Nothing could get him back there.

When he sat down at a bench at the local playground that Dudley his bullying cousin and his gang had vandalized yet, what else would those gits do with their free time, he began to contemplate his situation. How would he go on from here? He feared that he would be arrested if he was found by the ministry. Was blowing up his aunt bad enough to be thrown into Azkaban? From what he heard Hagrid tell last year, it was a dreadful place. He didn't want to go there. Well, he had gotten that warning last year because of Dobby. He knew he was on thin ice with the ministry because of underage magic. How the hell did they locate underage magic if they couldn't tell who did cast the spell? He wondered. Well, he knew they couldn't detect flying as Ron and some other kids from wizard families had told him that it was common to fly during the holidays.

So this would be his best chance to escape the Ministry. But it would also mean never being able to return to Hogwarts, the only true home he had ever known. The thought was enough to clench his stomach with fear.

Eventually he decided to go for it; fly to London, get his money from Gringotts, and flee. He rummaged in his trunk for his invisibility cloak. He had his wand on top of everything so he held it in his hand while searching with the assistance of the lumos spell. Suddenly he noticed movement behind him. He sharply turned around, his wand pointed at the thing that had moved. He first only saw two reflections of the light. He was worried that whatever this was would attack him. Then the thing came nearer and he was able to identify it as a big shaggy black dog. It didn't look frightening, it even wagged his tail at him.

Harry breathed out in relief. It was just a dog. The dog came over and sat next to him. Harry stroke his head and the dog seemed to like it.

"You gave me a real scare you know?" He asked the dog.

The dog seemed to look apologetically. Perhaps it had sensed something in Harry's voice. He had seen in a documentation on TV that animals were believed to have some empathy for human feelings. Of course Dudley had changed the channel shortly after this to see a cartoon because the documentation was boring for him.

"I wish you could talk, I could use someone who understood me and could give me some advice. I have problems and don't really know what to do. You probably won't believe me, but I have just blown up my aunt accidentally and now I am in deep shit with the Ministry of Magic. Yes, magic exists and that is the reason my relatives hate me and say I am a freak. I wish I had some other relative still alive who could take me in. But I have long since learned that these wishes don't come true and now after this, they will surely expel me from Hogwarts and throw me into prison." Harry said.

He didn't know why he told the dog this, but perhaps the lack of positive contact was getting to him. The dog put his head into Harry's lap to console him. Then it suddenly barked and pulled Harry's sleeve, as if to say him 'follow me'. Harry didn't know what to think but he had to leave the area. So he just followed the black dog. The dog led Harry through some streets farther away from Privet Drive. Finally they reached a forested area near another park. The dog led Harry to some bushes and Harry found a clearing some meters away. Then he stood some distance away from Harry. It moved his right front paw over the ground then it barked and Harry went thinking it wanted to show him something, over to look at the ground.

'Don't be afraid but you will be surprised.' Stood there written.

"What the fuck?" Harry said before the black dog in front of him transformed into a human.

Harry just gaped. It was just his bad luck to run into a wizard who could transform into an animal. Wasn't Professor McGonagall the same? What was it called? Animagus? Sometimes he wished he had an easier time learning things at school. Without Hermione he would have been lost the last two years.

"Hello Harry." The man that had before been the dog said.

"Why do you know my name? Wait scratch that, damn scar, what do you want? You are that murderer they reported on the TV, but how do muggles know about a wizard criminal?" Harry ranted.

"So they informed the muggle Prime Minister. It was to be expected. Well, as you probably know, my name is Sirius Black. I have been convicted to a lifetime at the wizard prison Azkaban, but I escaped a few weeks ago. What you don't know is that I am innocent and I didn't even get a fair trial. The evidence was clearly set up so that I would look guilty to everyone. I have to admit I was kind of stupid back then, but I was blended by my grief for the loss of my best friend, more like my brother in everything but blood and his wife. And I was furious at the traitor who sold them out to Voldemort so I hunted him down. But he tricked me, killed those twelve muggles that are said I killed them and then faked his own death and escaped before the aurors arrived." Sirius told Harry.

Harry didn't know if he should believe this man. It sounded like a farfetched story to him. But if he was a murderer, why would he tell him all of this? Why would he show himself to him? If he wanted to harm him he could just have killed him in secret. His behavior didn't add up with the stories the muggle TV told. But if he was a wizard, what did the muggles really know? He was said to be armed with a gun, but wizards didn't need this kind of weaponry.

"I see you wonder if my story is true or not Harry." Sirius said calmly.

"You have to admit it is hard to believe." Harry responded.

"Yes I do. If I had my wand I would swear on my magic that I told you the truth, but it was snapped when I was convicted to go to Azkaban. Stupid gits at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If I had been given the opportunity to defend myself under the use of Veritaserum, it's a truth potion if you wondered, I could have told them that I wasn't the traitor. That it was Peter. Never would I have betrayed James and Lily." Sirius told Harry, clearly hurting about what had happened.

"What? You were convicted for betraying my parents to Voldemort?" Harry shouted.

He trembled. This was what had happened? His parents were betrayed? Was Sirius Black innocent or not? How could he determine this? He needed to know what happened. He couldn't let this chance pass by. But was this man who claimed to have been his father's best friend really innocent?

"I don't know what to believe, but I want to know what happened back then. I will judge when I know everything." He decided to say.

"A wise decision Harry. You are a lot like your parents, you know. Not just your looks. I'm sure you have been told this often but also your personality. Well, it all began before you were even born. Some descendant of a famous seer made a prophecy. I don't know everything it said, but Dumbledore was really worried and excited at the same time. What I know is that it was prophesied that the one with the power to defeat Voldemort would be born to parents that had thrice defied Voldemort. That ruled out nearly everybody but two pairs. Both were part of the Order of the Phoenix, an organization Dumbledore founded to fight against Voldemort in the first war." Sirius explained on Harry's questioning look.

"The first couple were your parents of course, the others were Frank and Alice Longbottom, a pair of aurors and really nice people. Dumbledore warned both pairs of the impending danger as Voldemort had been able to get a part of the prophecy because Dumbledore and the seer had been overheard for the first part. It said the one with the power to defeat the dark Lord would be born when the seventh month dies. Both you and Neville were born at the end of July, so it was impossible to say which of you would be the one. I don't know why he came after you. But to protect both of you, your parents and Neville's parents went into hiding.

"Dumbledore told us the best chance to keep everybody safe would be the Fidelius charm. A powerful protection as only the secret keeper can reveal the location. The secret is hidden in the very soul of the secret keeper. I was meant to be the secret keeper for Lily and James, but I thought it was too obvious. I was James best friend and they would surely come after me. So I persuaded James and Lily to change the secret keeper to one of our other close friends, Peter Pettigrew. We were close friends at Hogwarts and I didn't suspect him to be a traitor. Peter wasn't the most powerful wizard, so I thought nobody would come after him while I played decoy and you would all be safe. That was the biggest mistake of my life." Sirius head dropped.

"I intended to go into hiding and went to check up on Peter one last time on Halloween 1981, the dreadful day. I found his place deserted and I got worried that something was wrong. I immediately went to your home but when I arrived, I saw the destroyed house that no longer was under the Fidelius charm. Then I realized was Peter had done, what I had done. I wanted to take you with me, to be there for you as Lily and James wanted me to do, but Hagrid, who had been sent by Dumbledore, insisted that you were to live with your relatives."

Harry looked furious at this.

"I see, you really hate it there. Well, as I couldn't take care of you, I did the next best thing that came up to my mind, hunting Peter down and get the traitorous rat to confess what he had done, but he was prepared. He shouted in the street where lots of muggles were to witness how I could have betrayed Lily and James. Then he cast a curse that blasted up a good piece of the street and killed the twelve muggles caught in the explosion. He must have hit a gas tank or something like that. He wasn't powerful enough to do that much damage on his own. Then he cut his own finger to fake his death, transformed into his animagus form, fittingly a rat, and vanished into the gutters. The only thing I could do at that moment was laughing. He had put all the blame on me and with him gone I couldn't prove my innocence. I was transported straight to Azkaban where I rotted for twelve years."

Harry was quiet the whole time and carefully observed Sirius face and eyes. He had long since learned to read body language, otherwise he would never have been able to survive at the Dursleys for all these years. All indices showed that he was indeed telling the truth.

"Why did you want to take care of me?" Harry asked quietly.

"Sure, nobody would have told you this, thinking my soul was as black as my name. I was named your godfather by your parents. If something happened to them I was meant to raise you, well, that never was possible." Sirius looked down regretting his choice of action.

Harry decided then and there that this man was telling the truth. It was like his wildest dreams could come true. If they could prove Sirius' innocence, he would be able to live with him. A man who obviously cared for him for being Harry, not the boy-who-lived. Then another thought came to his mind.

"Sirius, why did you flee now and how did you manage it?" He asked curiously.

"Well, you see I am an animagus, but I never registered as one as it is law. So I was able to transform in my cell. Dementors, the foulest beings you could find on this earth, who are guarding Azkaban, can't see, only feel human emotions. They feed of them. They suck out the happy emotions, all the happy memories and leave you with only your most dreadful memories. Most people become insane there. The reason why I am still sane is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought but it was my anchor to not loose myself. As a dog my thoughts were simpler and I was able resist their influence better.

"One day, Fudge the Minister of Magic came by on his annual visit. I asked him if I could have his newspaper because I missed doing the crossword. He gave it to me. On the front page I saw an article which was about the Weasley family. Here it is." Sirius showed Harry the article he had gotten on his birthday from Ron.

Remembering Sirius story Harry connected the dots seeing Scabbers on Ron's shoulder.

"Holy shit, you mean Ron's pet rat Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew?" Harry declared incredulously.

"You know the boy?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Yes, Ron is my best friend. We have been through a lot of adventures the last two years."

"I'm looking forward to hear them Harry" Sirius said with a smile. Harry returned the smile.

"Well as it is, I couldn't let Peter roam free around you. The article said that the boy would return to Hogwarts after the holidays. What if Voldemort returned? Peter would be perfectly positioned to deliver you to Voldemort. Lots of Voldemort's old supporters in Azkaban think the traitor double-crossed Voldemort after he fell to you. They want to kill Peter as much as I do. But if he delivered you, the last of the Potters, one of Voldemort's most outspoken enemies by the way, who would dare to say he betrayed Voldemort? He would be welcomed back in honor." Sirius explained.

Harry shivered at the thought.

"I believe you Sirius." Harry said finally.

Sirius smile couldn't be brighter.

"But what can we do about my situation? I mean I got an official warning because a house elf levitated a pudding last year and they thought it was me. They told me I would be expelled if this happened again." Harry told him worried.

"Well, I don't think they would do anything this drastic if you could prove that it wasn't you who did the spell. You would just have to give them your memories of the event for them to test it in a pensieve and you would be cleared. And then it would be best to show them what led to your accidental magical outburst with your aunt. I think that would suffice. But I think it would be best if we disappeared from here. I take it after what you told me you don't want to return to your aunt and uncle." Sirius stated.

"Never! This place has never been a home to me. They hate me and my magic with every part of their being. I don't even know why they took me in if they detest me that much." Harry said with clear hurt in his voice.

Sirius did the only thing he could think of would help Harry and hugged him.

"It's okay Harry. Let it out. I will get my name cleared and then we can live as a family. You will never have to go back to them."

"Really?" He asked weakly.

"Really." Sirius promised.

Harry's tears flowed freely. He had never felt such an unconditional acceptance by an adult. It felt nice. He couldn't really describe it but he didn't want to give up on this feeling.

When Harry had calmed down a bit. Sirius took Harry's trunk and looked him in the eyes.

"I will apparate us to a safe place Harry. You have to hold tight on my arm. Side-along apparition is a bit uncomfortable but it is the safest way to travel without being detected. The ministry can't detect it, only if you would grab onto someone who apparated you would be able to follow him." Sirius explained.

Harry nodded and held onto Sirius arm. Sirius spun around and both vanished, leaving the Ministry workers behind who were undoing Harry's accidental magic on his aunt and searching for the boy, but none of them was able to find a trace of the boy.


	2. Grimmaul Place Number 12

**Hello everybody, here comes the second chapter of my new story. I hope you like it.**

**As usual I own nothing of the Harry Potter world, I just play with it.**

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**Grimmauld Place Number 12**

Sirius and Harry landed in an alley from which Sirius led Harry in front of a line of old houses. They looked well cared for.

"Where are we Sirius?" Harry asked.

"We are in London Harry and the place we are standing in front of is my parents' house. Grimmauld Place Number 12. I had hoped to never have to return here, but it is the safest place to be for us at the moment. My family was kind of paranoid so this house is better protected than most buildings in the wizarding world. It has a lot of old and nasty wards, the nicer ones being muggle repelling, the building being unplottable and a dark creature repellant ward. I think only Gringotts, Hogwarts and Potter Manor are better protected here in Britain."

"Potter Manor?" Harry asked incredulously.

Sirius blinked surprised.

"You don't know?" He asked.

Harry shook his head.

"But you must know of your heritage. It's important for you to know the dos and don'ts of your social standing or you could make unnecessary enemies. Some of the old pureblood families really take those customs serious. They are so easily insulted. Did nobody ever tell you this?" Sirius asked shocked.

"No, nobody ever told me anything about the magical world until I got my letter to Hogwarts." Harry explained.

"I see I have my work cut out for me. While I don't believe in this whole pureblood supremacy crap, I know the rules they live their lives by and know how to avoid antagonizing them all in public. Well, let's get inside first and settle you in. Then we can talk about your life so far. I want to get to know you, Harry." Sirius said.

Both walked towards the front door and Sirius nicked his finger to draw some blood.

"Normally I would use my wand for this, but as things are, I have to get a new one first. The house only accepts a blood relative of the Black family to enter. As I found out after I escaped from Azkaban, my mother and father died some years ago, so I am the sole heir of the Black fortune."

"I'm sorry that your parents are dead, Sirius." Harry said.

"Don't be. To be honest, Harry, my family was one of the most awful wizarding families there were. My parents never were Death Eaters." He looked at Harry's questioning face. "Voldemort's servants..." Sirius explained "...but they thought he had the right ideas about how to treat muggles, halfbloods and muggleborn witches and wizards. I ran away when I was sixteen because I couldn't stand my family anymore."

The door opened and Sirius led Harry inside.

"But where did you stay? You were still underage." Harry wanted to know.

"At your father's place. Your grandparents were great people. They took me in and treated me like a second son. After my uncle Alphard left me some money, I got my own place but I was always welcome for dinner at the weekends. It hurt me much more when they died than when if found out that my own parents had died." Sirius told Harry.

Harry just nodded. It sounded like Sirius could understand growing up while being unhappy. Way better than other adults he had met so far. Harry looked around in the house. It was dark. And Sirius warning about his family being dark wizards was only too true. He saw elf heads stuffed at the stairs, a kind of leg, probably a troll's leg used for holding umbrellas, some evil looking portraits and he suspected other vile things in the other rooms. He looked a bit unsure about the idea of living in such a house. Sirius seemed to understand his hesitation.

"It will take some time to clean this place up. The house has been empty for years now, eight since my mother died I think and seemingly the old house elf wasn't up to snuff to clean everything properly." Sirius explained with a repulsed face.

"You have a house elf?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yes, nearly all the old pureblood families have them, mostly more than one, depends on the size of the family and their property to be honest. As the Blacks' numbers have been decreasing, the number of elves decreased. An elf can only survive so long if he doesn't have a Master." Sirius said.

He was surprised by Harry's horrified face. Something he had said must have deeply disturbed the boy. But what would that be?

"What's the matter, Harry?" Sirius asked concerned.

"Well, last year I tricked Lucius Malfoy to set his house-elf Dobby free. He was horrible to Dobby. He kicked him around, the family always ordered him to do extra punishments and he was treated like he was lower than dirt. Dobby really disliked his masters. But I didn't know that Dobby would suffer if I set him free. He was so happy to be free from his masters." Harry said panicking.

"That is definitely a weird elf. Most of them would think it the maximum disgrace to be set free. But I know the Malfoys. In fact my cousin Narcissa was married to the heir of the Malfoys when we were younger. Such a respectable pureblood marriage. My parents were thrilled. Same goes for my cousin Bellatrix; she married into the Lestrange family. Death Eaters all together. They thought house elves to be lesser beings, not intelligent magical beings that have to be treated fairly." Sirius told him sarcastically.

"You are related to the Malfoys?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"If you only allow your children to marry another pureblooded witch or wizard, there are not that many possibilities. If your grandparents hadn't been so open-minded, there could have been a really big uproar about James marrying Lily. After all the Potters are one of the oldest pureblood families here in Britain. Your mother was one of the most brilliant witches of the time, but still a muggle born. Well at least until she went to Gringotts to make the obligatory heritage test. It was quite interesting to see the faces of Lily and James when the goblins announced that your mother was in reality a pureblood witch." Sirius grinned remembering that event.

"What? But how is that possible? I thought Mum was Aunt Petunia's sister." Harry was upset.

"Only by adoption. After Petunia was born, her mother was unable to have another child. Something about severe injuries and it being too dangerous to have another child. I never really understood muggle medicine so I can't tell you more there. But she and her husband wanted for Petunia to grow up with at least one sibling. So they adopted Lily two years later. I doubt Petunia knows this. Hell, I only know this because I was witness to the announcing of the test results. Lily confronted her parents about this and they told her everything.

"She was found as a baby barely a few months old. As no family could be found she was put into an orphanage. Then Petunia's parents came there and decided to adopt Lily as they could tell she was their own child. Everybody thought she was a normal muggle-born witch until this test. They took it shortly before they married. They were nineteen at the time. Lily was the only heiress to the noble and most ancient house of Boldon. They were a family that originated from France but immigrated to Britain around 1600. I don't know the exact year.

"They were an old and wealthy family and soon they built their connections in Britain and bought several major magical businesses. They now all firm under the name Boldon. Before they have been separate shops, farms, plantations and mines. Then, during the war against Grindelwald, they became targets. From what I remember of the history of the 1930's to the 1940's when Grindelwald raged war against continental Europe, he specifically targeted those pureblood families that disagreed with his goals. He started with threatening them and if that didn't work he hunted them down to the last member as an example to those who dared to defy him.

"First it were only small families. If I remember correctly, the first to be victims of his vendetta were the Polish Hagnocks then the German Frandersteins. The Boldons were late victims because of their economic and political influence. Grindelwald only dared to attack them after he had strengthened his power base in society. Had he gone after them from the beginning he would have surely lost his war early on. Grindelwald soon found an easy solution for his problems with killing the whole family. He told the Nazis that they were Jews and so many were killed by them. It was a popular tactic. They only needed to make sure that there were wards that prevented them from escaping their homes when the Nazis came and many lost their lives in gunfire before they could defend themselves.

"You can't imagine how many witches and wizards were lost to World War II. While we separate ourselves from the muggles we are still part of the normal world. This house would have been destroyed if some of the bombs that were dropped on London had hit it. Even the strongest magical wards have problems to withstand that much destructive power.

"After Grindelwald was defeated Lily's family was severely decimated. They had lost most of their members that had lived in France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and other countries. Later Voldemort went after the last ones. They disappeared one after another and nobody could really tell what had happened to them. They were thought to be extinct until Lily took the test." Sirius explained.

Harry had to digest this information. To learn that his real family had been killed by dark Lords because they had opposed them. This also meant that his aunt Petunia wasn't really his aunt. There wasn't a really good reason for him to stay at Privet Drive. They were not his family. Only by adoption. And they hated him, they had never hidden their feelings.

"Was Aunt Petunia told this?" He asked weakly dreading the answer.

"No. Lily and James kept this information a secret. First Lily had to come to terms with her heritage, then they became targets of Voldemort and it would have been more dangerous if he found out that the Boldon family had an heiress. The family had too much economical influence for him to ignore. As long as the family didn't have a legitimate heir their wealth would be held in trust and managed by the managers of the group. And managers could have been chosen by him after he had conquered Britain. Lily was too much part of the light side to ever even consider joining his forces. He knew this very well." Sirius answered.

Harry nodded.

"So this means I am a pureblood wizard?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but don't get a big head about it." Sirius joked.

"Don't worry, I don't want to become like Malfoy." Harry answered chuckling.

Sirius laughed at those words and Harry thought he liked it when Sirius laughed. He looked much nicer.

"Well, come on. Let me show you the house and then you can choose a room you like. We will need to clean up the house to make it possible to live here, but we will manage. Let your trunk stay here, we will get it, when we are finished. By the way. Kreacher." Sirius called.

A crack was heard and an old house elf appeared in front of the two wizards.

"Yes Master?" The elf asked bowing, seemingly displeased to have to call Sirius Master.

"Kreacher this is my godson Harry Potter. He will live here with me from now on. I want you to follow his orders as you would follow mine. Please begin cleaning the kitchen so we can prepare something to eat and drink when we are finished with the tour of the house." Sirius tried to be nice to the elf, even if he didn't like him because of his past.

Kreacher seemed to be surprised of the treatment from Sirius. But he complied.

"As Master wishes." He answered.

Harry decided to introduce himself properly.

"Hello, Kreacher, I'm Harry, I hope we can have a good relationship." He told the elf, hoping that he wouldn't burst into tears like Dobby did.

"Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. My poor mistress told me about his victory over the Dark Lord. She was so distraught when Master Regulus died in his service. Poor Mistress. Nobody there to console her. Master Sirius gone to hunt the Dark Lord. It broke her heart to see her son betray the way of the Black." Kreacher mumbled.

"What is wrong with him Sirius?" Harry asked slightly disturbed by the clearly insane house elf.

"I think he was alone for too long. This house is full of dark artifacts. They emit dark magic. Add to this that probably the portrait of my insane mother, which I hid with a curtain as a precaution in case you would come with me, gave him orders during the years after her death and you get a confused house elf. Do you know the confundus charm?"

"Yes it was in our spell books. But I had some difficulties to learn it. If it hadn't been for Hermione I would never had mastered it." Harry admitted.

"That's curious. You had an uncanny talent for wandless magic when you were a baby. You gave your parents quite some action when they tried to undo your accidental magic. How are you generally doing at school?" Sirius asked.

"I'm average. I have sometimes serious problems to learn things. I just can't remember all the facts that I am shown or explained. The only thing that ever seemed to come to me naturally was flying." Harry replied.

Sirius frowned. Something was really wrong here. James and Lily had both been incredibly talented wizards. And for their son to not have inherited any of their talents was nearly impossible, especially as he had shown great talent as a baby. He would have to have Harry checked for blocks and curses he decided and luckily he had good contacts at Gringotts. It was probably the only place where the ministry would not be able to get any information. Or whoever was responsible for this.

Sirius led Harry around the ground floor where the kitchen, a study, some storage rooms and a living room were. Then he showed him the rooms in the upper floors. Harry was awed how big the house was. It didn't look that big from the outside.

"How is the house so big inside, Sirius? It doesn't look like this from the outside." Harry asked curiously.

"Magic, Harry. Generations of Blacks have added to the space and the wards that protect this house. My family really hated being troubled by muggles, so they did everything to make this house more or less invisible. It is unplottable, invisible to any non-magical person, has several defensive barriers that can only be deactivated by a member of the family or those who are keyed into the wards." Sirius answered.

"Wow. That's impressive. But it is kind of dark and uncomfortable here." Harry pointed out.

"I know. One of my top priorities is to clean up the house and renovate it completely. Out with the old and dusty things, especially the dark artifacts and in with light and friendly looking things. I want a real home. Nothing shall be remembered of the dark and cold house I grew up in." Sirius stated.

Harry grinned. He could understand Sirius. If he could have his way with Privet Drive, his thoughts drifted away.

Finally Harry decided to take a spacious room two rooms down the floor from Sirius own room.

"Well, we will have to clean it a bit before you can sleep here. Would you mind, if I borrowed your wand for a minute? I'm not that good at household spells but it suffices to get the bed and the floor somewhat clean." Sirius asked.

"Won't the ministry be able to spot it if you do magic? Especially with my wand? I don't want them to find me. Before this mess with underage magic is cleared I fear they would expel me." Harry said.

Sirius saw clearly how much Harry feared to be expelled or thrown into prison. What the hell did those muggles do that he was that much afraid of losing the possibility to go to Hogwarts?

"This is not a problem. The trace the ministry has on underage wizards and witches isn't connected to the wand, more to the area where the spell is cast near an underage wizard or witch. I will tell you a secret Harry, the Ministry is unable to detect who cast a spell. They only can use the trace to find muggleborns using magic because then they are sure who cast the spell. In magical buildings there is too much interference for them to know who did the magic. They trust the magical parents to keep their children under control." Sirius told Harry.

"What? But that is not fair." Harry exclaimed angrily.

"No it isn't. But a lot of things in our magical world are not fair. As well as they aren't in the muggle world. Especially here in Britain. Most of our laws have been written by purebloods to favor them. Some other countries are farther ahead but not all of them. Russia is even farther behind than we are." Sirius informed Harry.

Harry just nodded. Then he yawned.

"I think it would be best if I hurry to clean your bed so you can get some well-deserved rest, we can talk tomorrow Harry." Sirius said.

Harry nodded and gave Sirius his wand.

"Scourgify." Sirius said and waved his wand.

Lots of dust and spider webs disappeared from the room. Sirius repeated the spell five more times before he was pleased with the results. He handed Harry his wand back.

"Well good night, Harry. If you need anything, you know where to find me." Sirius said.

"Thank you Sirius, good night to you too." Harry answered.

Sirius left the room and Harry proceeded to change into his nightwear. He was dead tired and decided to forego brushing his teeth this time. Not even five minutes after he had slipped under the blankets in the big, comfortable bed Harry was asleep.


	3. Exchanging Stories

**Hello everybody.**

**Thanks to all of you who left reviews to my story, I really appreciate them. This is the longest chapter so far and I have to give some credit for good ideas I mentioned in this chapter. **

**The statement about resting the magic in the summer months and having to get proper nutrients is an idea I read in the story 'To shape and change' by blueowl. Great story, you should read it. **

**As usual I sadly don't own anything, only this story idea.**

**Have fun reading and I hope for a lot of reviews.**

* * *

**Exchanging stories**

The next morning Harry awoke and was slightly confused where he was. This wasn't the small room he had at Privet Drive. Then everything came back to him. He was in his godfather's house. Harry grinned and grabbed his glasses from the night stand. He put them on and really looked around in his room. It was spacious, easily three times as big as his old room. The room was connected to his own bathroom, had a big inbuilt closet and big windows.

Next to the window was a desk with some shelves above for books. The coloring of the room distracted Harry. It was really dark. Well, Sirius had said they would redecorate the place, so it didn't matter. Harry went into the bathroom, took a shower, brushed his teeth and put a fresh set of clothes on. Well, fresh was a relative term as they were hand me downs from Dudley and therefore at least two numbers too large for him.

Harry left his room and went down looking for the kitchen. It would be taking some time for him to get used to the big house. But he wouldn't rather be anywhere else. He could tell Sirius cared for him. It was just a feeling but it was a great feeling. He wondered if this was what it felt like having a real family. Well he would find out.

He finally entered the kitchen and could see that Kreacher seemed to have cleaned it. It wasn't as spotless as Aunt Petunia's kitchen, he wondered if he should still call her his aunt after what Sirius told him yesterday, but it was a lot bigger. It had a fireplace, an old fashioned oven where Sirius stood, trying to cook some food.

"Morning Sirius." Harry said happily.

"Morning Harry. I hope you like pancakes. I only had the ingredients for something simple. I got some milk and eggs from a farm a few miles outside of London two days ago and we had some flour left in the storage rooms. I will send Kreacher to go grocery shopping as I hardly can go for myself."

Harry nodded and looked expectantly at the baking pancakes. He sat on a chair and waited. It was a weird feeling to just wait for someone to cook for him. Except for important meetings he had to cook for the Dursleys, do the dishes, weed the garden, clean the house and of course be the scapegoat for everything that went wrong there.

"Something on your mind kiddo?" Sirius asked concerned.

"Well…" Harry started unsure of he should tell his godfather. He had never told any adult about this.

Sirius finished the pancake and put it on a plate with the others. Then he put it on the table and knelt before Harry to be at his eye height. He was worried about the boy. He knew the signs of an abused child, he himself had been one after all. It had taken James, Remus and Peter ages to get him to open up and tell them his problems. He didn't recognize that the things he had been taught how family interacted with each other was really screwed up for a really long time. And he would have to get his godson out of those dreadful rags.

"You know you can talk to me about everything? I know you don't really know me, but I want to be there for you from now on. I won't judge you, but I can't help you either, if I don't know what is bothering you." He said kindly.

Green eyes looked in gray ones searching for deceit. Sirius was troubled that Harry seemed to have such trust issues. No thirteen year old boy should have such a look. But he just waited. Harry had to decide for himself to trust Sirius with these things.

Finally Harry nodded.

"It's just that I am not used to have somebody make breakfast for me. Usually I had to make it for my relatives and if I did something wrong like burning the bacon, aunt Petunia or uncle Vernon punished me. I had to do a lot of chores. Then there was my cousin Dudley who always bullied me. Aunt Petunia totally spoiled him and if I dared to say something I was send to my room without eating. I have been hungry more often then I want to remember." He finished getting continually quieter.

Sirius was appalled. How could somebody treat a child like that? He knew Petunia disliked magic but to abuse Harry like this? Had nobody seen it before? He carefully looked over Harry's stature. He was small for his age and thin. Probably because he had only been given the least necessary feeding.

"This is over Harry. You will never have to do those things again except when you want to. For example if you want to help someone to do it. But I would never force you to do chores for me, especially not so many. You are a child and you have a right to have fun, play with your friends, chill out or whatever you want to do unless it is too dangerous of course."

Harry snorted at that thought.

"What is so funny Harry?" Sirius asked glad that Harry was seemingly feeling better.

"The point of dangerous free time activities. I seem to attract danger." Harry commented.

"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked concerned.

"I have not have a normal year at Hogwarts so far and you can't call my childhood safe with a brutal bullying cousin around whose favorite game is 'Harry hunting' along with his cronies." Harry said dejectedly.

"How have your years at Hogwarts been unnormal Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Can we eat first? It's a long story." Harry begged.

"Of course." Sirius agreed.

Sirius and Harry ate both a lot of pancakes with jam and syrup. Harry found them delicious.

* * *

After a filling breakfast Sirius made some hot chocolate that had survived the long absence of any inhabitants of the house.

"What would you like to eat later, so I can tell Kreacher what he should get for us?"

"I would like Pizza." Harry answered.

The Dursleys often ordered Pizza because Dudley liked it but Harry had never gotten any. It smelled so good. He really wanted to try some. Sirius nodded and put pizza ingredients and topping on the list. Harry was a bit surprised that a wizard like Sirius knew what pizza was. Ron had been totally clueless about it until Hermione explained it to him.

He also added some everyday things like fruits, more milk, bacon, eggs, coffee, tea, vegetables and utensils, including toiletries for both Harry and him to the list. Then he asked Kreacher to get the things for him and the elf disapparated.

Sirius led Harry to the living room and asked him to tell him about his first two years at Hogwarts and his childhood.

Harry began to tell Sirius everything. How he had slept in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years, that he never had any friends because everybody was afraid of Dudley and his gang, the accidental magic and how mad his relatives always were when it happened, the loose boa in the zoo, at this Sirius was howling with laughter and told Harry he would have loved to see that happening.

He then explained how Hagrid had come to finally give him his letter to Hogwarts. The visit in Diagon Alley, meeting Malfoy and disliking him immediately, the problems to get onto the Hogwarts express and meeting the Weasleys. Finding his first ever friend in Ron, their arriving at Hogwarts and the sorting.

Then he described the first classes, how he got onto the Quidditch team as the youngest house player in a century.

"Your father would be really proud for this accomplishment. He was a seeker on the house team himself." Sirius said smiling.

Harry smiled. It was nice to hear from someone who knew his father better than anybody else that he would be proud of him.

Harry continued his story of accidentally finding Fluffy, the incident with the troll on Halloween, making friends with Hermione, his first Quidditch match and the bucking broom. How Snape of all people had tried to keep him alive, but enjoyed taking points from Harry. The clues they put together to find out about the Philosopher's Stone, how they decided to get the stone before Voldemort could get it. The quests to protect the stone then the showdown with the Voldemort possessed Quirrell. The winning of the house cup due to the last moment points Dumbledore appointed them.

Then how he had met Dobby at Privet Drive, his warnings, how he had gotten Harry in trouble with the ministry and the Dursleys.

"We will owl the ministry when the time is right to clear this up. You don't need to keep a black mark in your records for something you didn't do. All the pureblood families know that only in muggle areas the trace can detect underage magic, otherwise they can't tell who cast the spell. It is not told to the children to prevent them from using magic during the summer.

"This is mostly not even to spite them, but young wizards and witches need some recreational time from using magic all year. It is like building muscles. Lily explained that to me. If you only work out and don't give your body the chance to rest, you don't have the benefit of growth. The same is true for the growth of your magical core. If you only work but don't rest, it won't grow like it is supposed to do. Of course you need proper food to really gain the benefits. Otherwise the body has nothing to power the growth. That is one reason the school medi-witch is in charge of the food plans at Hogwarts." Sirius explained.

Harry was really surprised to learn this Nobody had ever explained this to him. He was suddenly even more grateful for Mrs. Weasley's insistence to feed him properly during the stay he had at the burrow last summer. She probably had enabled his core to grow like it was supposed to do. He didn't want to think what could have happened if he would have had to go back with the starvation the Dursleys had put him through.

Harry continued to tell Sirius how Ron, Fred and George had rescued him. The time at the burrow, meeting Lockhart at Diagon Alley, the closed barrier to the platform, how they had flown the enchanted Ford Anglia to Hogwarts and crashed into the womping willow.

Then he described the nearly expulsion, if it had gone how Snape wanted it to do, they would have been expelled. He told him of the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, how they had suspected Malfoy the heir of Slytherin, how most of the students had believed him being the heir, because he could speak parseltongue, the attacks on muggleborns, how Hermione had found the last clue only to be petrified shortly after. How Ron and him had gone after Ginny as she had been lured into the chamber.

Then he described Lockhart trying to obliviate them and how it backfired. How he had gone on to rescue Ginny, found her, talked with Tom Riddle, found out that he was Voldemort and the fight against the basilisk. How he had gotten help from Fawkes, the sorting hat and pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the hat. His killing of the basilisk but being poisoned.

Sirius had a hard time not to yell because he knew Harry would probably take it the wrong way. He needed to tell everything now that he had started talking about it. It needed to come out.

The story continued with the saving of his life by Fawkes tears and him destroying the diary that had started all this mess with the basilisk fang.

Then his latest summer holidays with the Dursleys. Sirius was pale when Harry ended his story. He would never have thought that Harry would have to face such dangers while being so young. How could Dumbledore have let all this happen? Why did he let Harry suffer like that at the hands of his relatives? Many thoughts swirled in Sirius head. There was something fishy. Especially with the quests Harry had to master the last two years at Hogwarts. Then his problems with learning. This had to be investigated and he knew just the way to do it. But he would tell Harry later. For now he had to tell him some things he should have been told when he re-entered the magical world.

"Alright Harry, while I am quite impressed with your achievements and very happy that you want to do the right things, I am appalled how you had to do so much on your own. I want to ask you something. Have you ever been given the pamphlets they give muggleborns before they enter Hogwarts? Have you been told which books would be good to read to get a better understanding of the magical world? The laws you have to follow?"

Harry shook his head. Now Sirius became furious. While he liked Hagrid very much, he was not the best possible instructor to lead a completely unknowing boy in his first impression of the magical world.

"Well it seems you have been denied important knowledge. I don't know the reasons why they didn't give you the pamphlets but normally one of the heads of houses is sent to introduce a muggleborn witch or wizard to the magical world, answer any questions that might come up, be it by the child or the parents and show them around Diagon Alley and explain the most important rules. While I trust Hagrid that he had shown you around, he is not that well accustomed with the differences between muggles and wizards. It seems it will be my job to do that. I just don't understand why they let the heir to two noble houses grow up so absolutely isolated from the magical world." Sirius muttered.

Harry couldn't answer this. He was just as confused as Sirius was.

"Well, we will have to make a trip to Gringotts later. Probably it would be best for you to arrange an appointment with the goblin in charge of the Potter accounts. Have you been told your parents' will?" Sirius asked.

"No, should I?" Harry asked.

Sirius face palmed at this.

"Okay now I am sure. Somebody intentionally hides important knowledge from you. And we will find out who it is. It is law that in case the heir to a wizarding family is orphaned he or she is to be informed of their parents' will when they turn eleven. The only exception is if there is no will of course, but this is really rare. It only happens if the new head of the family dies really soon after he or she has taken up headship. Normally the goblins send an owl to the child in question on their birthday to inform them that they are required for the hearing of the will at Gringotts.

"While many would suspect the goblins to prefer being able to keep the heirs in the dark it is the opposite. They can only gain profit with gold that is in circulation. Gold which only collects dust in a vault doesn't bring profit and goblins hate wasting money. The best way to get a goblin to help you with something is to make business profitable for both sides.

"I also want you to arrange with the goblins to be thoroughly checked for any magical blocks, curses, potions and other things that might hinder you."

"You think somebody tempered with my abilities?" Harry asked frowning.

"Yes I do. It just doesn't add up. You were powerful even as a baby. And now you have problems getting the stuff taught in the first two years? Any wizard with a talent for wandless magic like you should be excelling at least in Charms or Transfiguration. That was why Lily was so good at Charms. She was always the first one to learn a new spell and she got lots of points for Gryffindor by doing this." Sirius told Harry.

"So mum was also in Gryffindor?" Harry asked smiling.

"Yes, your dad and I were too. Even if my family was outraged by this happening. They petitioned for a resorting of me. A Black who wasn't sorted in Slytherin was a scandal for them. But it was denied, saying the Sorting Hat knew what he did. I'm kind of the white sheep in my family." He laughed and it sounded like a bark. "Well back to topic. The goblins have magic abilities that are mostly unknown to wizards. I know some of them because the goblins have declared me a goblin friend. It really is an honor. They rarely do so. When you get the date for your appointment, I will take you to Diagon Alley and accompany you in my animagus form. Probably some wizards from the ministry will approach you, but don't worry. If I am not mistaken, they will be way to glad for finding you in good health to punish you. After all they think I fled from Azkaban to kill you."

"But why?" Harry didn't understand.

"Remember, they think I betrayed your parents. They think I am a Death Eater, stupid if you ask me, as I don't have the dark mark on my forearm. It is a mark of a skull with a snake as a tongue coming out of its mouth and the sign of Voldemort. My stupid brother got one when he joined but then he seemingly saw what Voldemort was really up to and tried to leave but was killed while doing so. Broke my parents hearts that their perfect pureblood son died because of the man they thought to be the savior of the wizarding world." Sirius sneered.

"Are you sure they won't punish me, Sirius?" Harry asked timidly.

"Very. You will probably be told that it was very irresponsible to run away but that will be all." Sirius assured him.

"I really hope so." Harry mumbled.

"Don't worry. Just tell them, if they should show up, that you were scared what your relatives would do to you. Tell them what it was like living there and you will have their sympathies, if a witch is present you have won, they can't help it but fuss over mistreated children. It's their mother instinct." Sirius said sagely.

Harry thought of Mrs. Weasley and could only agree with Sirius. Sirius showed him where he could write his letter and told him what to write.

"Address the letter to chief goblin Snowcack he is my contact with the goblins." Sirius started his instructions.

Harry nodded and began writing.

* * *

_To chief goblin Snowcack_

_Gringotts Bank_

_Dear chief goblin Snowcack,_

_it has come to my attention that I should have been informed of my parent's will the day I returned to the magical world. It was quite a surprise to learn that I was the heir of two noble and most ancient houses and a pureblood wizard. I apologize if I may have disregarded any kind of customs how to behave in company of the goblins, but I have been kept in the dark of the wizarding world even existing until Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley on my 11__th__ birthday._

_Further there are indications that somebody has blocked parts of my magical abilities. _

_As I was told by a reliable source the goblins of Gringotts Bank have very developed abilities to undo magical blocks, lift curses and neutralize Potions. _

_I would like to ask for an appointment by your convenience to discuss my investments held by Gringotts, my further inheritance and the aforementioned possible lifting of the blocks._

_May your gold always flow and your enemies wither in fright._

_Yours sincerely_

_Harry James Potter_

_Heir of the noble and most ancient house of Potter_

_Heir of the noble and most ancient house of Boldon_

* * *

"Very good, Harry. Now you just have to let your owl deliver the letter and wait for Snowcack to answer." Sirius explained.

"But how? Hedwig, my owl, is at Ron's. I sent her there because Uncle Vernon would only sign my Hogsmeade form if I would behave like a muggle for the stay of Aunt Marge. And only because I threatened to slip up in keeping magic a secret."

Harry hung his head dejectedly. If only he could forget about everything connected to the Dursleys. Sirius, sensing Harry's discomfort with speaking about his relatives, decided to let the topic rest for now. Harry had told him a lot already. It would take time to find out everything that had happened at their house.

"Well, look at the attic, there is the houses old owlery. I'm sure you will be surprised." Sirius said mysteriously.

Harry did just that and climbed the stairs to the top floor. He found the door leading to the attic and entered. He was greeted by a pleased hooting snowy owl.

"Hedwig. You are here. How did you know where I was?" He asked happily.

"Your owl is very intelligent, Harry." Sirius said. "I noticed her entering as the wards inform the current Lord if someone or something is entering. As owls are the usual method of wizarding communication, they are able to pass the outer wards to the owlery. To get farther into the house the Lord has to give permission. I want to check her for tracking spells if she is clean, I will instruct the wards to let her pass them freely and only keep her out if one is placed on her later on."

"Wow, I didn't know you could do all this with magic." Harry confessed.

"How could you if nobody told you? But this will change." Sirius promised.

Sirius moved to check over Hedwig. When he was finished Harry saw him sweating.

"What is the matter Sirius, why are you so exhausted?"

"While I am able to use wandless magic Harry, it takes a lot out of me. I really need to get a new wand. Well, when we are finished with our business at Gringotts, I will have to make a trip to Knockturn Alley to get a new wand."

"Why Knockturn Alley?" Harry said shuddering remembering his visit there last year.

"I can hardly walk into Olivander's and buy a wand there, can I? The shops in Knockturn Alley are handier if you want something done without the officials finding out. Hedwig is clean, she can enter the inner wards."

Harry nodded and stroked his owl. Sirius had a smile on his face seeing the deep bond between Harry and his owl. Obviously Hedwig meant a lot to Harry. She was obviously more than a simple post owl, she was his familiar.

"Are you up to an important delivery, Hedwig?" Harry asked her.

She hooted agreeing. Harry took out the letter he had written.

"It needs to be delivered to chief goblin Snowcack. If possible, please avoid being spotted by too many wizards, they are looking for me as I ran away from the Dursleys. I will tell you everything when you get back, Hedwig."

She hooted assuringly, spread her wings and took off.

"Well, she will need some time. Meanwhile I will start teaching you some things you have to know." Sirius said.

He and Harry went back downstairs to the living room.

"Well, I think I will start with some of the most common customs between pureblooded families. Normally they just keep a certain respectful behavior towards each other and keep to the motto "Live and let live". There are of course exceptions. Some of the old noble houses have been allied for centuries and kept a deep friendship over generations. Others keep a feud with each other. The Weasleys and the Malfoys are a good example for this."

Harry nodded. The animosity Ron and Malfoy displayed was immense. They couldn't just let the other be. He had to admit Malfoy was a git and he couldn't stand him at all.

"If you meet a member of one of the old noble houses, best thing is to be polite and try to get a better impression of your new acquaintance. Just keep small talk. Ask about the family. Show honest interest. This way they will get a good first impression of you and that is important. Like it or not, you are a public person Harry and you will have immense political power in the future.

"You are the heir of the Potter and Boldon families and perhaps some others. You can never know before you let the goblins make an inheritance test. Due to the war against Voldemort lots of the old families died out without leaving an heir behind. So the goblins contact the nearest living relative. As I told you it is usual in wizarding families to marry into other wizarding families. So they are nearly all somehow related.

"Those pureblood families that outright opposed Voldemort were main targets of his wrath. His goal was to get the wizards to rule the world with him as the absolute leader. It would have been a dark and despotic leadership. You can't imagine how awful he and his followers were. You have to have experienced it to really understand it. No lesson in history could prepare you for that.

"Well, most of the noble houses expect the heir of another house to stand tall and proud as they call it. I prefer a less pompous attitude. Just show confidence in yourself. Treat others with respect as long as they deserve it, but clearly take position of what you believe in. Don't let others dictate what you have to like or what you have to do. Think for yourself, question what you are told. Not every figure of authority is always right. Some are manipulative and only want to use your social standing for their own benefit."

Sirius stopped to let Harry digest these first things. He would have to work with him on proper holding himself, dressing for different occasions, language, wizarding law, privileges and duties of heirs and so on. It would take some time, but it had to be done. Normally it would have been Dumbledore's job to tell Harry these things upon entering the wizarding world, but he suspected that he had his own agenda.

And he would find out exactly what Dumbledore's plan for Harry was. It would be bad if Harry would find himself in a situation he was totally unprepared for. If the last two years at Hogwarts were any indication, he would have to face a resurrected Voldemort sooner or later. Sirius really hoped it would be later for Harry's sake. He had already been very close twice and Harry had been more or less totally clueless.

His attempts in taking Voldemort on to do what was right in his opinion would be seen reckless in others. Hell, even the marauders hadn't been in such a mess during their first years. And they had tried to stir as much trouble without getting thrown out as possible. Becoming an illegal animagus was just one of them.

"Another thing you should do, Harry, is to make contacts with your yearmates. Not only those in Gryffindor but also those in the other houses. I won't tell you to like everybody but try to find out more about them. If I understood you right nearly eighty percent of the school turned against you because you can speak parseltongue. The only ones to stand beside you were those who really knew you and most of Gryffindor house. So try to let others also see the real you. I know you hate your fame, but you can't hide. Sometimes it is better to take the offensive then be on the defensive. I don't know if something else will happen but I wouldn't put it impossible. You will need every support you can get then. Let's just imagine Voldemort would finally manage to return, from your stories I can say that he came very close twice already, you had proof that he did, but nobody would believe you, because they are too afraid to lose their comfortable lives. What then?" Sirius asked.

"I understand. Only those who know me would believe it because they would know I don't really like the fame around me. They would not think I was only seeking attention. The rumors Lockhart placed last year certainly didn't help." Harry said solemnly.

"You are right. The last thing you have to do, when we have solved the mystery of your learning problems, would be to review everything you have learned the past two years and really master it. Knowing a spell and somewhat being able to use it, is only half of it. Finding out, when to use it, being creative in its use and in the end using it without words, that is mastery. I wish it would be just as easy as being an average student for you in your school life, putting a bit more effort into your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and be done with it.

"You sadly don't have this option. You need to excel. In all parts of your education. Even Potions with Snivellus. You don't have to like him, Merlin beware, but you have to get good marks because distinct knowledge in this area will help you in the long run. You need to get every advantage you can get while Voldemort is still trying to come back, when he is back and tries to take over again, you will be his main target again. You have to be ready then.

"I really wish you could have a normal childhood, but as somebody found it appropriate to place you with Petunia, they destroyed that chance. And now we need to get you ready as soon as possible. But don't worry, you won't have to only learn, just do it effectively." Sirius told him.

Harry smiled shyly and nodded. Sirius decided that this was enough of the serious stuff for now and it was high time that Harry learned more about the people his parents were. So he began telling Harry stories from their time at Hogwarts, how Lily first detested James and his friends and only in their later years there began to like him. They stayed in the living room for hours and Harry could just not get enough of listening to Sirius' stories. Nobody had ever told him about these things. He finally had a chance to get to know his parents better.


	4. Gringotts Discoveries

**Hello all my faithful readers.**

**Thanks to all those who wrote me a review. I am really happy about them and the fact that the numbers of reviews for the last chapter have risen.**

**I hope you are not too disappointed that the visit to Gringotts won't happen this chapter, it will be next. This chapter is more of a bridge to the next part but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.**

**Have fun and please write lots of reviews.**

* * *

**Gringotts' discoveries**

Chief goblin Snowcack was enraged like he hadn't been for over a decade. How could they keep the heir of the Potter family this ignorant to the wizarding world? This went against so many laws, not only those made by wizards, but also by those who signed the ancient magical contract between the magical races. By the time he became eleven Harry Potter should have been taught the basic etiquette and customs of wizards, how to behave in company of certain other magical races and the laws he had to remember.

He had double checked that Gringotts had sent Harry quarterly statements of his family's vaults and the investments managed by Gringotts. The vault Harry had visited first on his eleventh birthday was merely a small one, set up as a trust vault for him until he became of age. It was refilled to a total amount of fifty thousand gallons each year for Harry to use for his education and private needs. As it seems, the boy must have thought it was all he had been left and used it sparsely.

Well Snowcack knew for sure, that they had informed Harry of the refilling of his vault every year on his birthdays. No, the only question was, who was intercepting Harry's mail? He had a suspicion but needed proof to undo the illegal interference.

The next thing to think about was who was just now telling Harry the things he asked about. It had to be somebody who was knowledgeable in wizarding customs and caring for Harry. Well this eliminated his muggle relatives. Biggest mistake in the century sending Harry there to live. It was clearly against his parents' will, but it had been sealed by the head of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore, shortly before the Potters had died. Nobody had been able to read it. But of course, not even Dumbledore knew everything.

Gringotts kept the originals of every wizarding will to avoid legal problems. Wizards were just too greedy to be trusted in matters of gold.

Considering the setting of the letter Harry was coached by a wizard or witch who knew the abilities of the goblins quite well. It was a little known fact, that they could indeed check for magical blocks, placed curses or potions without any trouble. Only the curse breakers had an inkling what could be done within the halls of Gringotts. And they had been sworn to secrecy. The others were acknowledged friends to the goblins. And there weren't many of them, especially after the last war. Lots fell to the Dark Lords armies.

Snowcack thought some longer, and then an idea crossed his mind. That would be a possibility. He checked the letter once more and then he was sure. Only one person knew this information. He grinned evilly. It seemed one special friend had come back and taken charge to set some injustices right. And he wouldn't be deterred by anybody. Oh yes, with him back things would become interesting.

He set up a response to Harry Potter and asked him to meet him in two days at 11.00 am. And he just added a portkey to the letter for good measure for the owl to deliver. It wouldn't do for some wizards to know that the goblins were in contact with their missing Boy-who-lived. Oh yes, the goblins read the papers and he had heard more than one goblin cackling delighted for the ministry being lost on what to do.

* * *

Harry and Sirius sat at the kitchen table in the house. Harry was delighted. He had learned so much about his parents, his grandparents and the wizarding world. He wondered why nobody had bothered to tell him some of those. It would have made his life so far much easier. Had he known that every underage wizard or witch that was raised by muggles had a magical guardian appointed, he would have asked this guardian to defend his rights against his muggle relatives. It was forbidden to imprison children for no reason. The guardian also had to keep in touch with his or her ward to make sure nothing hindered the development of the magical child.

Harry didn't even know who his guardian was. One thing he would make sure to find out. While he wasn't physically abused at the Dursleys', except you counted the many chores he had to do or Dudley's favorite pastime, he had to suffer emotional abuse of the worst kind.

It should have been brought before the Wizarding Children Service, which dealt with abused children in the wizarding world long ago. Why did nobody bother to look after him while growing up? They all sang his praise for defeating Voldemort but couldn't be bothered to ensure his healthy upbringing? That was more than suspect.

What also was bothering him was his hurting head. Something was very wrong. It was as if somebody wanted to suppress him thinking for himself. He really hoped the goblins could help him. This was alarming to him. Sirius tried his best to help him, but as he wasn't a trained healer or potions specialist, he could only do so much. To Harry's great surprise Kreacher had gotten him a headache potion.

Harry had thoroughly thanked the elf for doing so. Seemingly the old elf liked Harry better than Sirius for some strange reason. Well, Sirius had started to do some curse lifting on the house with his father's old wand he had found after a long search in the study. It didn't work perfectly for him, but he was able to use it until he could get a new one. Kreacher had become a bit less irritable so Harry thought by the time Sirius had undone all the dark magic floating around in the house Kreacher would be somewhat normal.

Harry at the moment was enjoying his pizza. As Sirius had promised he had sent Kreacher to get groceries and the elf had returned with lots of things Harry just couldn't wait to try out. Sirius had insisted for Harry to have a somewhat balanced diet as he clearly needed the proper nutrients. But nobody said good food had to taste horrible. They had planned to make hamburgers with chips the next day. With lots of salad, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted onion rings, cheese and of course ketchup. Harry was looking forward to it. He had never known how to eat properly as nobody had taught him.

While some wouldn't think hamburgers fell into the category of healthy food, well in case of the premade ones they would be right he admitted, those made by themselves were not as fat. They would only fry the meat in a pan, the rest of the things would be raw or in case of the rolls toasted.

At Hogwarts he just ate what was placed before him. And the food tended to be rather unbalanced. He was sure the school nurse would look after proper nutrients in the food but he suspected her to be too busy with her job at the infirmary to do it properly. There were lots of fat food items and very little healthy food. Perhaps he could ask the house-elves in the kitchen to help him. He was quite sure they would gladly assist him.

During his time at the Dursleys' he had developed a dislike for too much fat food. Perhaps because he saw what it did to Vernon and Dudley. He never wanted to be that fat.

This moment Hedwig entered the kitchen with a big official looking letter attached to her leg.

"It seems the goblins were fast to answer, Harry." Sirius stated.

"Yes, I am curious what they wrote." Harry answered after he swallowed his food he had been chewing. Table manners were some of the only things he was glad Petunia had taught him. Even if her method of yelling at him every time he did something wrong was disturbing.

Harry offered Hedwig a piece of ham which she gratefully accepted.

Harry opened his letter.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_It has come as an unpleasant surprise to me that you haven't been told the most basic rules how to behave in the wizarding world. I don't blame you, but I blame the one who had been in charge of your upbringing. Gringotts has started an investigation to find out who was named your magical guardian after your godfather Sirius Black had been sent to Askaban without a trial._

_We of the goblin nation still view him as a friend to our nation as he hasn't proven us wrong until now. We have been sending you quarterly statements of all your assets managed by Gringotts Bank but obviously they have been redirected or intercepted. This is also being investigated at the moment. Be assured there will be consequences against whoever has been manipulating those._

_At the same time we are doing a complete check of your accounts to find out if somebody has illegally accessed your funding. We will present the results to you at the meeting you asked for._

_I would gladly meet you and your guardian (whom I think I know quite well) at August 10__th__ at 11.00 am. For this I have included a portkey in this letter, timed to activate ten minutes to 11.00 am in two days. I figured it would be best to keep our meeting a private matter. No need to alarm whoever is messing in your life to your private matters._

_The department in charge of undoing magical blocks, curses and potions has also agreed to give you a thorough check up after our meeting. If there are any things done to you against your will, we will find out and be able to solve the problems against a fee of course._

_May your gold flow steadily and your business go smoothly_

_Snowcack_

_Chief Goblin of Gringotts Bank_

Sirius chuckled. He knew Snowcack would know that he was behind Harry's new insight by telling him to sign as the heir to the Boldon family. Only five others besides Lily and James had known. First there were Lily's surrogate parents, who were muggles and dead by now, Frank and Alice Longbottom, who became victims of his insane cousin Bellatrix and were in no condition to tell anybody anything, and himself.

"That's great, Sirius, now I don't have to worry about being found by the Ministry and whoever is interfering in my life." Harry said happily.

"Yes, it's great, Harry. It will make things a lot easier. Especially as I know that Gringotts has untraceable meanings of glamouring a person. I could buy one of those crystals they sell and be able to get a wand in Knockturn Alley without the ministry being any wiser."

"I didn't know there were such things in the magical world. That's really cool, Sirius."

Sirius nodded smiling. He enjoyed Harry's still childish enthusiasm about the possibilities of the magical world. It was a shame he had to learn it just now.

* * *

The next morning when Harry arrived in the kitchen he could see Sirius sitting at the table, grinning like a mad man reading the Daily Prophet.

"Oh my, this is too rich." He laughed.

"What do they write?" Harry asked.

"Oh good morning, Harry, I didn't see you there. Come here and see for yourself." He invited his godson.

Harry did and sat next to Sirius. He began to read the article under a photo of him, that had to have been taken sometime during his first year.

* * *

_**The Boy-Who-Lived missing**_

_**By Rita Skeeter**_

_It has come to the attention of your faithful reporter that Harry Potter, 13 years old, has gone missing during his summer holidays from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry where Harry will start his third year on September 1__st__._

_As you all are aware of Harry Potter, who had been the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is, as we recently found out, living with his muggle relatives at an unknown location during the summer months, when the school is closed._

_During these holidays Harry Potter seemingly lost control over his magic and accidentally used magic. He blew up his uncle's sister, Miss Margery Dursley and then left without a word. Now the concerned wizarding population is asking, how could a nice boy like Harry Potter (interviews with several witnesses of Mr. Potter's normal behavior on page 4) lose control this badly?_

_When I tried to interview the aforementioned muggle relatives, they had the audacity to smash their door in my face and shout and I report this literally 'that the freak could go to hell and never come back to bother hardworking normal people like them'. It makes you wonder why Mr. Potter is forced to live with people like that who seemingly hate everything that is related to magic. Why didn't the ministry intervene in this before? Did they even bother looking for the hero of the magical world?_

_Mr. Potter, who had been presented with an award for services for the good of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the end of last term, rumors are, he had been able to thwart the plans of the heir of Slytherin in relation with the incidents of the infamous chamber of secrets, how is not known, could at the moment be in grave danger._

_As reported in all our latest editions the mass murderer Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. Many believe he will be after Harry Potter's life as he was the one who betrayed the boy's parents to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The ministry has spread the whole auror department as well as every available witch and Wizard at the Ministry to find both of them. Harry Potter to keep him safe from the danger and Sirius Black to send him back to Aszaban._

_The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge has commented the current measures as following:_

'_It is really tragic what happened with Harry's relatives, but I am sure after the emotions have calmed down some they will find the deep feelings running in families and forgive Harry for his accident. It happens to the best of us that we lose control of our magical abilities if our emotions are boiling. If Harry reads this article I want to ensure him, that he isn't in trouble and I want him to come out of wherever he is hiding so that we can protect him properly from the danger he is in.'_

_After my personal experience with Mr. Potter's relatives I am not so sure that Minister Fudge is seeing the whole picture. I would like to interview Mr. Potter on this topic, so if he reads this, I want to assure him, that the magical community is on his side in this outraging treatment he got from his relatives. I personally think the Wizarding Children Service should investigate this matter to ensure the well-being of the hero of the wizarding world._

* * *

Harry was now chuckling. Then he loudly laughed. This was ridiculous. Just because they feared Sirius would harm him they were willing to hush up a case of underage magic. And the Daily Prophet wanted to involve Wizarding Children Service in his case. He would really like to tell them what really happened at his aunt's and uncle's house the last thirteen years. Oh yeah, that would be big news.


	5. Inheritance

**Hello to all my faithful readers. I am really happy with all the positive feedback I got. For some of the questions you asked, well, I can't really answer them, that would spoil the surprise. But you can be assured that they will all be answered during the coming chapters. **

**As I forgot to say it the last chapter I don't own HP, JKR does. So, disclaimer done :)**

**As I promised here is the chapter when Sirius and Harry go to Gringotts. Well, part of it. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Inheritance**

Albus Dumbledore was frowning. The article while being a mild one for Rita Skeeter was not to his liking. True he hadn't been the focus of her indicated badmouthing, he was quite sure that Rita would attack the Ministry lot harsher in the next few days. As long as Harry didn't show up again she would milk his disappearance for all its worth. Thankfully very few people knew that he was the one who was behind Harry's suffering in his childhood. The boy just couldn't be allowed to grow too strong.

Being suppressed by his relatives was the best way that the boy didn't get a big head like most of those pureblood princes. The problem was with the public being in uproar over the treatment Harry got at his relatives it would be a lot harder to ensure he would return there after the next school year. Then he also had to do something about Sirius Black. The man could be a major problem for his plans. He was legally Harry's guardian. He was his godfather, a position that was superior to even blood relatives. It represented a magical bond between the child and the godparent.

He was glad that the wizarding world in general lacked common sense. It made it so much easier to manipulate people. They just didn't think things through and overlooked the obvious quite often. A godparent was magically bound to ensure the safety of the godchild. Parents chose the godparents with utmost care. Being named godparent to the heir of an old family was one of the greatest honors a witch or wizard could be presented with. Thankfully nobody had thought about this in the chaos that had taken place after Voldemort's fall. It had enabled him to subtly push Barty Crouch to send Sirius to Azkaban without a trial where the man could have proven his innocence and gained custody of his godson.

He couldn't be allowed to do this. Harry had to be controlled by him or he would never be able to fulfill his role in Albus' master plan. He needed a malleable weapon, not a self-confident spoiled prince, even if Severus insisted that the boy was just that. Sirius would have done just that. He remembered really well how James had behaved when he came to Hogwarts at eleven years old. No, Harry couldn't be allowed to be sure of himself. He had to be controlled. His measures would ensure this. He just needed to find the boy first, play the role of the nice grandfather he had perfected over the years and allow the boy to spend the rest of his holidays in Diagon Alley. It would be futile to get Harry back to the Dursleys now.

No the better course would be to have him under watch at the alley for the time being. He had been sure he would turn up there, after all, the only place where the boy could get money was Gringotts. But none of his contacts had been able to find the boy. Damned brat. Well, he would turn up sooner or later to get his school things and the owl with his booklist would be able to find him no matter what. Like he had predicted the boy had chosen to take Divination and Care of Magical Creatures like the Weasley boy. He was really happy about that friendship. It bound the boy to a light family who had always been loyal to him.

He couldn't buy the Weasleys, he knew that they would then oppose him, they were proud to be honorable people but they did what he wanted if he suggested it. He just had to keep an eye on the twins, they were awfully smart and thought out of the box. Never a good thing if you wanted to control a person. But the role they played in his plan was an important one. The Weasleys were the icon for Harry that he was better off in the wizarding world. That he owed this world his undying loyalty for being his salvation from the hell the Dursleys presented.

When he found the boy he would have to give one of his patented 'I am really disappointed in you' speeches. They always worked on children that looked up to you. He would appeal to the guilt about running away from home and losing his temper like that and thereby ensure that the boy would return for the next summer holidays. For the school year he had grudgingly hired Remus Lupin, an old friend of Harry's parents as the defense teacher. He didn't really want to give the boy too much information about his parents but Remus was the most likely person to be able to find Sirius when he came to Hogwarts.

He was sure he wanted to protect Harry from something, which would make sense as he knew that Sirius loved the boy. It had after all been this love for Lily and James that drove the man over the edge when he had Hagrid take the boy from his destroyed home to his relatives. It had worked better than he had thought. Sirius had looked like the guilty party and it was easy to take him out of the picture. He had thought the man would die at Azkaban after at most five years but somehow he had survived. Well, if he played his cards right Cornelius would take care of this problem. He just hoped he didn't get to Harry before they could. If the boy found out the truth it would be catastrophic.

It was bad timing that he had to attend one of his regular meetings at the ICW from tomorrow on. He would have preferred to control the search for Sirius somewhat. And it was never a good idea to leave Cornelius without supervision. The man just was an idiot most of the time.

* * *

The last day had passed quickly for Harry as Sirius had shown him some really neat spells to get rid of some nasty magical plagues like doxies, to lift a curse from an object if the curse was not too strong of course, for stronger ones one would need to intensely study the effects of the curse, calculate the building of the spell, Sirius told him he had learned how to do it in Arithmancy, and then lift it. If this was impossible and the only way to do this was to destroy an object, then you would have to build a ward of energy crystals and runes to protect you from the effects of destroying the cursed object. Harry now seriously regretted not having chosen Ancient Runes and Arithmancy for new subjects. Perhaps he could still change his decision?

Now the two of them stood in the kitchen of Grimmauld place, Harry was wearing one of Sirius' old robes from when he was a boy. Sirius had taken all of Harry's old clothes, that the Dursleys had given him and deposited them in the bin. He wouldn't let his godson run around in those disgusting sacks. Surprisingly Kreacher had nodded fervently when he saw the disposing of the rags. After all, how would it look if the godson of Lord Black looked like a pauper? It would sully the name of the most ancient and noble house of Black.

As Harry had never before traveled by portkey he had been a bit unsure but Sirius had explained him how to use a portkey. The secret was to start walking while being transported even if you didn't have ground under your feet. Harry would never have thought of that.

"Ready Harry?" Sirius asked.

Sirius had asked Kreacher to give him a makeover. His hair was neatly cut and his beard nicely trimmed. The elf had done a good job on his Master. He had mumbled he couldn't let the good name of Black be dirtied by a ragged looking Lord. Sirius had taken it in stride. Kreacher had been getting better, even if only slightly. It would take time to get the house back in shape and with it the elf bound to it. He would have to have patience. He didn't want to be as cruel as his family had been.

"Yes, I just hope it won't be too bad. I'm a bit nervous."

"Don't worry too much, the goblins know what they do. Wizards just tend to underestimate other magical beings. Mostly to their own disadvantage."

Harry nodded. He touched the portkey that Sirius held in his hand. It was a simple pen the goblins had charmed.

Then the pen began to glow and Harry could feel a pull in his stomach region. He and Sirius were pulled forward and vanished from Grimmauld place. After a few moments Harry began to walk as Sirius had told him to do. He landed slightly off balance but on his feet.

"Well done, Harry. For the first time using a portkey, you managed it really well." Sirius complimented him.

He didn't look fazed at all. Harry looked pleased at the praise.

"Welcome to Gringotts, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black. Chief goblin Snowcack is awaiting you in meeting room 5." A goblin Harry recognized said greeting them.

"Thank you. Your name was Griphook right?" Harry asked.

Griphook seemed really surprised.

"You remembered my name, Mr. Potter?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Yes of course. You were the goblin who showed me my vault the day I first came here with Hagrid. Why do you ask?" Harry asked confused.

"You are a very unusual wizard, Harry Potter. Most of your kind don't bother remembering a goblin's name." Griphook answered.

"But it is only polite, I mean, you also remember the name of the people you do business with. I mean to really gain profit from a business relationship you have to know your partners, right?" Harry replied.

Griphook nodded pleased with the young wizard's attitude. Sirius smiled. Harry had just gained a lot of respect from this goblin and he would tell the others. Harry was well on his way to gain the friendship of the goblins. A very valuable asset in the wizarding world.

* * *

They followed Griphook to the meeting room. None of the goblins took any interest of the fact that Harry Potter, the missing golden boy of the wizarding world, and Sirius Black, the most wanted person of the same world were walking through the halls of the bank.

They reached their destination and Griphook knocked on the door.

"Come in." Called a voice and Griphook opened the door.

"Chief goblin Snowcack, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are here for Mr. Potter's appointment." He informed Snowcack.

"Thank you, Griphook. I will handle things from here on." Snowcack said.

Griphook bowed and left the room.

"Sirius, my friend. It has been too long." Snowcack greeted the older wizard pleasantly.

"Snowcack. I am happy to see you in good health. Business is going well I hope." Sirius returned the greeting.

"Yes, it is. Ministry doesn't dare to interfere with Gringotts, let us handle things much more smoothly as in the past. Mr. Potter it's nice to finally meet you."

"I'm pleased to meet you, chief goblin Snowcack." Harry said with a small bow.

"I see Sirius has started teaching you on basic etiquette. Good to see that somebody finally cares for these things." Snowcack stated .

Harry just smiled and nodded.

"Well, take a seat, we have much to discuss today before we head to the healers and curse-breaker department." Snowcack started.

Harry and Sirius both sat down in comfortable armchairs.

"Well, before I will begin to tell you what the amount of Mr. Potter's assets at Gringotts and held in shares is, Sirius, this letter was left to me by your brother Regulus shortly before his death. He told me to give it to you, but you were already busy with fighting the Dark Lord. And it was only a month before the Potters died so there wasn't any time before you were sent to Azkaban" Snowcack explained.

Sirius was dumbfounded and took the letter. He wondered why the hell his brother who had joined Voldemort would write him a letter.

"I will read it later." Sirius said and pocketed the letter.

Snowcack nodded and handed Harry a dagger.

"Before we can start, we need to verify that you are who you claim to be, Mr. Potter."

He took out a vial with a red potion in it.

"This is a heritage discovery potion. If you add seven drops of your blood to it and add it to this magically produced parchment, the paper will show us all of the wizarding families you are descended from or have inherited from." Snowcack explained.

Harry nodded and cut his thumb, wincing slightly. He carefully let seven drops of his blood fall into the vial and saw how the potion changed color after the seventh drop. He then sucked slightly on his thumb to stop the bleeding.

"It will stop bleeding soon." Snowcack said, waving his hand in some kind of spell forming over Harry's hand and as he said the bleeding began to cease.

"Nice." Harry said looking at his thumb. "By the way, would you please call me Harry, chief goblin? I feel weird being called Mr. Potter all the time."

"If you wish so. Please call me Snowcack."

"My pleasure." Harry answered.

Sirius and Harry watched interested as Snowcack let the potion flow over the parchment. After ten seconds of waiting, words began to form and all three were amazed how many names appeared on the parchment.

"Very rare. This is only the third time I have seen so many inherited Lordships. You are quite the influential political figure Harry. You have to choose wisely in the future what you do. Many will try to influence you to use you in their plans." Snowcack said.

Sirius could only nod. He hadn't expected something like this. Harry had five Lordships. How the hell did this happen? The parchment read:

* * *

**Inheritance test**

**Harry James Potter**

**Confirmed inherited Lordships**

_Noble and most ancient house of Potter_

_Noble and most ancient house of Boldon_

_Noble and most ancient house of Ravenclaw_

_Noble and most ancient house of Peverell_

_Noble and most ancient house of Gryffindor_

**Confirmed inherited family vaults **

_Potter vault_

_Boldon vault_

_Ravenclaw vault_

_Peverell vault_

_Gryffindor vault_

_Mannoy vault_

_Juneur vault_

_Stuart vault_

_Romanov vault_

* * *

"This is amazing, wait I have heard the name Romanov before." Sirius said.

"It's the name of the Russian tsar family that had been killed in the Russian Revolution." Snowcack explained.

"How can this be? If they were all murdered, how can I be a descendant?" Harry asked.

"Two of the children's bodies were never found. The crown prince and princess Anastasia. Very few knew that the wife of Tsar Nicolai, Tsarina Alexandra, a descendant of our own queen Victoria, was a witch. The British royal family is highly connected to the wizarding world as many squibs have married into the family over the centuries. After all, there were some squibs born to the noble wizarding families and they were predestined to marry muggle nobles. So it was only a matter of time until one of these children would develop magical abilities. Alexandra was wary of the signs of uproar in Russia and prepared for any emergency. But even she was helpless at the sheer raw power the muggles unleashed in their fury.

"As it was, only her youngest daughter Anastasia had inherited enough magic to be a witch. All the other children were squibs with the crown prince having such a bad balance of his inherited magical powers, that he was susceptible to bleeding disorder. A genetically inherited decease. Even the most able healer of the time, Rasputin, hasn't been able to help the boy, but nasty rumors about him were spread. It ended in Rasputin being murdered by a mob of angry muggles.

"However, Anastasia managed to instinctively apparate out of her prison and disapparated back in Buckingham Palace, where she told the king what had happened. He offered her the protection of the royal court and she was taken in under a false name. Later she attended Hogwarts, graduated with very high N.E.W.T.s and made a name for herself in the wizarding world. She found a cure to the bleeding disorder to prevent any others to suffer like her little brother. She was one of the most famous healers St Mungo's ever had.

"There are also several stories the muggles made up as they couldn't explain how the girl simply vanished. As there never were any stories about the boy, we should assume that he died and they hushed it up. Killing little children never gives a good impression with the public even if said public despised the family they came from. After all the crown prince was only seven years old when the revolution happened."

Harry just nodded. He wasn't only nobility in the magical world, he was also descended from those outside. That was a lot to take in. I mean, how many boys could say they descended from Queen Victoria? The current British Royals were his distant relatives.

Sirius stared at the other noble houses.

"How is he descended from Ravenclaw? I know James told me that the Peverell line had no male heirs and that he was descended from them so this is no surprise, I just didn't know that there still was a Lordship of that family after they died out in the male line; with Gryffindor it is the same. I always suspected something like this as nearly all the Potters have been sorted into Gryffindor house when they attended Hogwarts. But I am sure James would have mentioned if he was descended from Ravenclaw."

"It is from his mother's side. The Boldons were close allies with the Ravenclaws after they emigrated from France to Great Britain in 1613. There were some marriages in the past. The reason why Lily Potter never had been told that she was Lady Ravenclaw was that there was another heir at the time, but the boy died of Malaria after a holiday in Africa in 1985. So the only living descendant of the house of Ravenclaw is Harry." Snowcack informed them.

"I see. Well, with this many inherited titles and vaults it will take some time to sort everything out for Harry to have optimal management of his assets." Sirius stated.

"You are right. I have built a statement of all the businesses Harry now owns and the liquid value of his vaults. Then the estates he owns are also listed with the respective locations. All values added together Harry is the number sixth richest wizard in Europe" Snowcack proudly told them.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Why what, Harry?" Sirius asked back.

"Why has nobody ever told me this? How will I be able to handle all of this? Why did I have to grow up miserable if I am this rich? Weren't there any other possibilities then sending me to the Dursleys? If I own so many estates as it sounds, couldn't I have been raised in one of them? It wouldn't be that hard for a powerful wizard to ward one of them to top standards. And with the power and resources of the Ministry of Magic it would have been easy to do so." Harry ranted.

Sirius could just place his hand on Harry's shoulder to try and console the young boy. So much had been done to him in his life and he had few happy memories that could push the bad ones back. What Sirius worried was that most of them were at Hogwarts. If his suspicions were right, then Harry would get another hard hit to his psyche.

"Well, I know this is much to get used to, Harry, but we have a lot to do today, so if it is alright with you I would like to read to you the will of your parents. I want to add that the original, held by the Ministry of Magic is still sealed on orders of the chief warlock of the Wizengamot, who at the time is Albus Dumbledore." Snowcack explained.

Harry nodded and tried to concentrate.

Snowcack took a roll of parchment and opened it. He began to read.

* * *

**_Last will and testament of_**

**_Lord James Charlus Potter_**

**_and Lady Lily Elisabeth Potter nee Evans nee Boldon_**

_We, the aforementioned, being of complete mental health and free will hereby decree this will our testament, making all previous wills void._

_In case of our demise the following persons are to be given the following assets:_

_To Remus John Lupin we leave our flat in London, Bakerstreet 23, 1.000.000 galleons and all of Lily's books concerning recent studies of the possibility to counter the werewolf curse by the wolfsbane potion._

_To Peter Thadeus Pettigrew, our secret keeper, we leave 1.000.000 galleons to get his lazy ass out of his mother's home and stand up for himself. _

_In case he was the one to betray us to Voldemort (as we said secret keeper) the former part is void and he is to be thrown into Azkaban in an anti-animagus-cell with the key thrown down North Sea. (Lily insists on this part!)_

_To Sirius Orion Black we leave 1.000.000 galleons, the cottage located in the village of Nottingham, he liked to borrow so much to have private time with his girlfriends and James' collection of chocolate frog cards._

_The rest of our belongings are going to our son Harry James Potter._

_In question of custody for our son Harry if one of us dies the surviving party has custody, in case both of us die, Harry is to be placed with one of the following persons in the mentioned order_

_1. His godfather Sirius Orion Black _

_2. Franklin Serenus and Alice Aurora Longbottom (godmother)_

_3. Remus John Lupin (family friend)  
and screw the ministry we say he can live with Moony and they have to accept it!_

_4. Andromeda Rosaria and Theodore Dereck Tonks (family friends)_

_5. Molly Patricia and Arthur Rios Weasley (family friends and distant cousins)_

**Under no circumstances Harry is to be placed with Lily's sisters Family, Petunia and Vernon Dursley! They are the worst sort of muggles there is and we don't want our son submitted to their cruelty that is sure to occur due to their hatred of the magical world.**

_Signed_

_ Lord James Charlus Potter_

_Lady Lily Elisabeth Potter_

_Lord Ironfork as witness_

_Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore as witness_

* * *

"He knew!" Sirius and Harry shouted at the same time.

Snowcack just stayed calm in his seat. He had witnessed outrage by wizards before and knew they needed to get the emotions out of their body unless you wanted them to do reckless things.

"He knew my parents didn't want me to live with the Dursleys. And yet he placed me there. What the hell was he thinking? He had no right to deny me a happy childhood, what the hell is he planning?" Harry ranted pacing up and down Snowcack's office.

Sirius now connected the dots. The things he had found strange fell into place. The prophecy, the not given trial, the Dursleys, Harry's learning problems.

"He wants total control over you Harry." Sirius said grimly.

"I think I can now see a good part of the picture, even if I am still missing some pieces of the puzzle. Think about it. You are the heir of three old pureblood lines he knew about. Potter, Peverell and Gryffindor. I'm sure he knew about this. You were guaranteed to be very influential when you grew up. Then the prophecy that has been made about you and Voldemort. You were foretold to be the one to defeat him. That made you even more politically powerful. Well you or Neville Longbottom as far as he could know before Voldemort attacked.

"When he attacked it was obviously sure you were the one. To be completely sure, you would have to contact the department of mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, they have recordings of every prophecy ever made there.

"Now he had a golden opportunity. There have been rumors in the order of the phoenix that Dumbledore has tried to influence Tom Riddle when he went to school, seeing signs of the boy becoming more and more bitter towards muggles."

"No wonder there. In this I can understand him. He hated that muggle orphanage he had to grow up at. It must have been a horrible place. If he was forced to return there every summer he was sure to grow a grudge." Harry threw in.

"How do you know this, Harry?" Snowcack asked.

"I found his diary last year. The foul thing contained a memory of Riddle's sixteen year old self. When you wrote in the book, it answered you. It showed me how Riddle blamed Hagrid for his crimes while opening the Chamber of Secrets the first time. He had a conversation with Headmaster Dippet that he feared to have to return to that muggle orphanage if the school was closed. He also despised his muggle father, called him worthless. He shed his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and created a new name by using an anagram. Shifting the letters of his name, you get 'I am Lord Voldemort'. His father must have left his mother because she was a witch.

"The diary possessed Ginny Weasley to do Tom Riddles bidding and she opened the chamber of secrets for him and eliminated all the threats to the basilisk for him. Like killing all of the school roosters." Harry told them.

Snowcack seemed deep in thought, so was Sirius. Sirius decided to continue to explain Dumbledore's plans to Harry. He needed to know this before he could be thrown into another of the insane headmaster's schemes.

"Well, as I said, Harry, Dumbledore's attempts to influence Riddle failed. If what you said is true, it could be a reason why everything escalated so much. A crappy childhood would turn most people bitter and they need an outlet for their frustrations. They would turn against the very thing that made their childhood terrible, in my case it was my bigoted family, in Riddle's case it were muggles and everything he related with them. So his targets were the muggle-born witches and wizards at Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore always was a bit weird. He held information close to himself and only gave it up when he deemed it appropriate. I sometimes wondered if some of the deaths in the order could have been prevented if he had given up some information earlier. Well, regarding your upbringing he saw the opportunity to form the heir of some very influential houses to his liking. If you saw Hogwarts as your real home, him as your savior from your relatives, you would be very easy to influence for him. You would look up to him and out of gratefulness you wouldn't ask too many questions. It is what has happened with Remus. He was so grateful to Dumbledore for letting him attend Hogwarts despite being a werewolf, that he blindly believed everything Dumbledore told.

"This probably is the reason he hasn't visited you while you grew up. Now there were only two obstacles in his way. Your parents and me. I'm sure he had plans in case Neville turned out to be the one the prophecy spoke about but he must have let them go as you clearly were the one. With your parents raising you, you would have known what it meant to be a noble Lord. You would have built connections with other pureblood children over the years growing up and been a normal confident boy when you entered Hogwarts. Nearly impossible to control by normal means. He couldn't do much against this, so he tried to be on good terms with your parents. He offered being the secret keeper himself to have full control over who visited them while being in hiding. They refused and played our planned act that I was to be secret keeper to flush out the traitor in our midst.

"To my shame I have to admit I believed Remus to be the traitor. He was more and more withdrawn from everybody that made him suspicious. But now I think it was just his pride while coping with all the prejudices in the wizarding world towards werewolves. It was extremely hard for him to find work due to his condition and he refused taking our help. After your parents died and he knew Peter was secret keeper, but nobody else besides us two, he made up his mind. He sent Hagrid to get you before I could and he left me no other choice but to let him take you. You can't really argue with a half giant. I knew I would have lost. Then I let my rage get the better of me and hunted Peter down. I wanted him to pay, but unknowingly I played exactly into Dumbledore's hands, perhaps he even expected this when he had you taken from me. You would have been the only thing that could have stopped me from hunting Peter down myself. If I had to take care of you, I wouldn't be able to do something stupid.

"I know very well that my temper sometimes gets the better of me. But the point is, my own actions proved my guilt in the eyes of the wizarding community. Additionally I am from a dark family. Not too far-fetched to believe that I would go over to Voldemort. It was easy just to sit next to everything and just not push for a trial to be held. I could rot in Askaban for all he cared and nobody would be able to interfere with his plans for you. You were sent away from the magical world against your parents will, which nobody knew about except the goblins and wizards tend to ignore other magical beings in their arrogance and superior attitude. He had sealed the wills of James and Lily and I suspect Alice and Frank Longbottom as well. I believe he tried to influence Neville as well, but failed in doing so as Neville still had some relatives left to care for him." Sirius stated.

"Yes, Neville told us that he grew up with his grandmother, he never mentioned his parents though." Harry said.

"That is hardly surprising, Harry." Snowcack said. "His parents were tortured by Death Eaters and are staying at St Mungo's long term ward because they lost their sanity due to the cruciatus curse, one of the three unforgivable curses."

"That's horrible. I never knew. He never said anything." Harry mumbled.

"Perhaps he isn't comfortable to talk about it." Sirius said. Harry nodded.

* * *

**Done. I hope for many reviews. For this nice long chapter. :)**


	6. Detected Interference

**Hello everybody. Special thanks to blueowl at this point or this update wouldn't have happened so soon. Thanks for posting how to update a story despite the continually appearing error message.**

**This is the newest chapter of my story. I have also updated 'Results of a Poker Night'. That would usually have happened Sunday but I didn't know then how to post the new chapter.**

**I still don't have anybody who wants to take my Harry Potter / Naruto Magical Duo challenge :(  
****So if anybody feels inspired to try his / her hand at it I would be happy to see your ideas (PR is important :))**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the story idea. **

**Have fun.**

* * *

**Detected interference**

"What can we do about Dumbledore messing with my life? I want it to stop, I want to live how I want to do, not like whatever crazy plan he has for me." Harry exclaimed angrily.

"We will see what we know after the tests are done. Perhaps we find out something more. At the moment I only know Dumbledore has a plan that needs you under his thumb. But the details are escaping my knowledge. Probably he has some insane ideas how to stop Voldemort and you play the key role." Sirius mentioned.

"Well, I think we will be wiser after the tests are done. Let's head over to the department." Snowcack told them and got nods.

* * *

Snowcack lead the two wizards out of his office and took some long floors deeper into Gringotts. It took them ten minutes to arrive at their destination.

"This is healer Thornfinger's room. He is waiting for you." Snowcack opened the door and let the two in.

"I see, my patient for today has arrived. Let's see." The old goblin said without giving a greeting.

He circled Harry, mumbled some words in gobbledygook, moved his hands in patterns around Harry's body and mumbled more words. The he seemingly began swearing.

"Snowcack, this is outrageous. The boy has more blocks than prisoners get when they are sent to Azkaban. Give him the most potent identification potion we have in our stocks. I have spotted several magical blocks, some concentrating on his brain, some on his body, then I could trace at least four different Potions and two curses. But the worst is his scar. Has nobody ever bothered to check the vile thing?" Thornfinger ranted on.

"What is the matter with my scar, Healer Thornfinger?" Harry asked worried.

"It's a horcrux, that's the problem. Now I know for certain how that damned wizard was able to cheat death. This would be exactly his style. Create the foulest thing known to magical beings to have anchors to the world of living even if his body was destroyed."

Seeing the puzzled looks on the wizard's faces, while Snowcack shared his own disgusted face he began explaining.

"A horcrux is the name for an object or being that carries part of the soul of the one who created it. The first ones I think were created by ancient Egyptian wizards and hidden in the pyramids. Our curse-breakers sometimes come upon one of those things and bring them here so we can take care to destroy them. What many dark wizards who have used them don't understand is that they are not a means to gain immortality.

"While they prevent you from dying if you are killed before it is your time, they have no power to prolong your life endlessly. Every being only has a certain amount of life power they can use. Why do you think there aren't any ancient wizards around if horcruxes were the solution to find immortality? A wizard who creates a horcrux can survive even being hit with a killing curse but he only lives longer than he would normally if he took good care of the body he has. In ancient times the life span of a wizard with a horcrux approximately increased from the normal 70 years they had to live to perhaps one hundred. It was still a lot of time then. Magic allows us to take better care of our bodies so that our life energy isn't depleted as fast as that of muggles. The wizard is still bound by the restrictions of natural aging.

"There was only one witch who found a way to increase her lifespan and had a horcrux but she had to steal life force from other wizards and witches. She even tried muggles which led to her downfall. The muggles one day caught her and burned everything she owned together with her on the stake. Normally fire can't destroy a horcrux, but another witch that lived in the same village, turned the fire into fiendfire, which the muggles just saw as more evidence that the woman was an evil witch and the forms the fire took a sign of her rotten soul. The knowledge how to steal life force has been destroyed immediately. Nobody wanted to risk another Dark Lord or Lady who stole life force again.

"You create a horcrux by committing the most horrible crime; killing an innocent. This allows you to split your soul and place part of it in an object of your choice. You have to ward this object with powerful protections, because if the object is destroyed the soul part in it is too. There is only the difficulty to destroy a horcrux. Only a few things are able to do so, like basilisk venom, fiendfire or if the horcrux is a living being the Avada Kedavra curse." Thornfinger explained.

Harry and Sirius had gone pale.

"The diary, Sirius." Harry said suddenly. "It was a horcrux too. The thing in it wasn't a mere memory of Voldemort, it was part of his soul and therefore able to possess Ginny. And through possession it tried to steal her life force. Hopefully Voldemort didn't find more ways to do so."

"You are probably right. God knows how many he created. But I don't understand why you are one too. He wanted to kill you as a baby. Why would he place part of his soul into you?"

"It must have been an accident, Sirius." Snowcack interrupted. "If he wanted to make one by killing Harry his soul would have been prepared to do so and latched onto the closest living thing when the curse backfired; this being Harry."

"But how can we free Harry from the horcrux? I refuse for him to be killed because of this. Oh god, if Dumbledore knows or has a guess that Harry is a horcrux, this could be the reason for his behavior. He prepares him to fight Voldemort without thinking for his own safety. Only because he loves the magical world and would do anything to safe it, even dying." Sirius realized.

"Well, as you know, we goblins regard treasures as our natural responsibility. Dark wizards tend to make valuable objects into horcruxes as it is their valuable soul that is put into them. There is an old ritual that was invented hundreds of years ago to transfer the soul part from one object to another. This way the goblins were able to prevent the destruction of treasures. As the practice to make horcruxes became more and more frowned upon, the ritual became forgotten by the wizards but is still given from one generation of goblins to the other to stop the destruction of treasure should a dark wizard stoop so low to walk this way." Thornfinger explained.

Harry looked very relieved to hear this. He didn't want to die just because two old men couldn't keep from meddling with his life.

"When can we do this? I want to get rid of Voldemort's soul piece as soon as possible." Harry declared.

"After we have taken the other test to find all magical blocks and the like that have been placed on you. The ritual to transfer the horcrux into another object will leave you unconscious for at least two days. The undoing of blocks, curses and the neutralizing of potions will not, it will probably only make you feel extremely tired." Thornfinger said.

Harry nodded. Another goblin arrived with a yellow potion.

"Master Thornfinger, the potion you demanded." the younger goblin said respectful.

"Thank you, Rockleg. Now, Mr. Potter, this will be similar to the inheritance test. We need some blood from you. Thirteen drops to be precise." 'Thornfinger instructed.

Harry walked over and took the agame Thornfinger produced out of his clothes. He cut his middle finger this time and let the blood drop into the potion which began hissing with each drop added to it.

The goblin took Harry's hand and healed it after the thirteenth drop was in the potion. He took the potion and poured it into a basin filled with a black liquid. The potion immediately split in three groups. The first group split into seven smaller parts, the second in six parts and the third in two parts.

"Somebody really feared your powers, Mr. Potter. Seven of your abilities have been blocked, six potions or poisons have been detected and two curses, one of them is the horcrux." Thornfinger explained.

"Now we will see what exactly you should be able to do." He swung his hand over the basin and the potion parts stopped swirling and attached themselves to certain areas on a scale. Then Harry heard a whistling noise and a piece of parchment flew from the ceiling into Thornfinger's hands. He inspected the information.

"Well, it's the easiest way if you just read it," he said and gave the parchment to Harry and Sirius. They began reading.

* * *

**Interference test of Harry James Potter**

**Abilities test**

**Natural ability / ****Status**

Parseltongue / Partially blocked / Passive abilities active / Active abilities blocked

Wandless magic / Blocked

Animagus ability / Blocked

Photographic memory / Blocked

IQ 180 / Partially blocked / remaining IQ 100

Analytical abilities / Blocked

Metamorphmagus / Partially blocked

...

**Potions and Poisons test**

**Confirmed Potions / Poisons**

- magic depriving potion, long lasting, last confirmed taken 1 month ago

- phoenix tears, long lasting antidote taken 1 month ago

- basilisk venom, neutralized, acting as antidote to all other known poisons, long lasting, taken 1 month ago

- concentration disrupting potion, long lasting, last confirmed taken 1 ½ month ago

- confounding potion, type loyalty confusion, long lasting, last confirmed taken 4 months ago

- bone growing potion, last confirmed taken six months ago

...

**Curse test**

**Confirmed placed curses**

Horcrux

Muggle enraging curse

* * *

Sirius was fuming. What the hell thought Dumbledore who he was? The blocks on Harry's magic were severe and if that wasn't enough there were two potions that made it even more difficult for Harry to show his worth at Hogwarts. Worse, they would prevent him from properly defending himself against whoever would try to harm him. Then the potion to confuse his loyalties. It was clear that it was meant to make sure Harry never questioned Dumbledore and his motives. And from what Harry had told him about his last two years Voldemort was doing his best to come back, it was just a question of time until he succeeded.

If Harry was really meant to be the one who could defeat Voldemort for good, why did Dumbledore block his abilities like that? Did he fear a powerful Harry could not be controlled by him? It was a possibility. That man was a control freak. Well it would stop. He would make sure of this. Nobody messed with a Black and Harry was his heir. It was time to train the boy marauder style. Well first the blocks had to go.

And then the most despicable thing. A muggle enraging curse. Petunia and Vernon already hated magic, to combine that with this curse was just asking for making Harry's life a living hell. He would get the rat and prove his innocence and then nobody would be able to keep his godson from him. Nobody, especially not the old manipulating coot. He must have gotten brain dead from all the lemon drops he ate.

"Sirius?" Harry asked forlornly.

Sirius looked in the troubled eyes of his godson. He knelt down and pulled the boy in a fierce hug. Harry leaned in and grabbed him tightly. He was afraid, very afraid. He had just found out how a man, he had trusted with his life had made his live the hell it was. That he had been severely hindered in his magical abilities. The only thing Sirius could do now was giving Harry the security he needed to go on.

It took Harry good fifteen minutes to calm down, but he still looked afraid.

"What will we do now?" He asked with a hoarse voice.

Harry's body was still shaking. Only pure will let him stand, Sirius realized.

"Thornfinger, how long will you need to prepare the rituals?" Snowcack asked.

"The ritual for the undoing of any blocks is ready, the one to transfer the horcrux will need two and a half hours of preparation as I have to call the three sages for it."

"Alright, Harry, Sirius, if you agree we will start with the uplifting of everything that constricts Harry right now."

"Of course, Snowcack." Sirius said, giving Harry an assuring smile.

* * *

They were led to another part of the room where a circle of runes were carved into the floor. Five crystals were located on the points of a figure, Harry thought was called a pentagram.

"This part is easy but it will take some time until it is finished. Harry, you have to lie down in the center of the pentagram. I would advise you to take off your clothes except your underwear. They could be damaged when the ritual gets to its highest point. It doesn't harm the human body but sometimes there can appear cuts on clothes. So most that use this ritual prefer to undress for it." Snowcack explained.

Harry looked at Sirius who nodded assuringly.

"Is there a place where I can undress, Snowcack?" Harry asked.

"Of course, Harry. You see the door over there?" He asked pointing on a dark brown door. Harry nodded. "That is a changing room. You can put your clothes into a basket there until the ritual is done."

Harry went to the door and entered the room. It was simple, just a bench to sit upon, and a low shelf with the mentioned basket for his clothes. Harry took of his robes, shoes, socks, and his shirt until he just had his boxers on. He was a bit unsure to show himself like this. He had always been, due to everybody mocking him for being a midget and very thin. But what could he do? He didn't get that much to eat at Privet Drive. Collecting all of his Gryffindor courage he exited the room and walked back to Sirius and Snowcack.

Seeing Harry's body for the first time without the ridiculously large clothes and later some old robes from the time he was a kid was a shock for Sirius. He hadn't thought that he would be this thin. The robes definitely hid a lot of Harry's health issues. He would have to do something about this. Didn't one of his old friends in France study to be a healer before his imprisonment? He would have to contact him to check Harry's health. He couldn't trust any British healers, they would just turn him in to the dementors before he had a chance to prove his innocence.

A foreign healer would at least listen and look at whatever evidence he provided. And with his memories it would be easy to prove everything. Just the British Ministry didn't want to listen. They were so full of themselves that they would never voluntarily admit that there could have been a mistake. Especially not with Dumbledore pulling the strings. As if fighting Voldemort wouldn't cause enough problems.

Harry reached them.

"Will it hurt?" He asked Snowcack.

"From what I know it will be uncomfortable and perhaps a bit stinging, but the ritual shouldn't cause any kind of real pain, Harry." The goblin explained.

Harry took a deep breath. If he wanted to get his life back, the life that he was meant to have, he had to do this. He was very grateful that he finally wasn't alone with this. That Sirius was there for him. In the few days he had known the man he had done more for him than anybody else before him. It was a nice feeling to be wanted by someone. To not be seen as a or a freak or a tool.

"Let's get this over with." Harry said and walked to the center of the pentagram.

* * *

He lay down as Snowcack had told him and tried unsuccessfully to relax. He was told to close his eyes and did so. Then he heard chanting in the goblin language. Gobbledygook Sirius had told him it was called. It was lulling and he began to dose away. Then he felt a certain heat spreading throughout his whole body. It was not really nice but it didn't hurt him. He could feel he began sweating but nothing more.

For nearly ten minutes this was the state Harry was in, and then a tickling was added to the heat. He tried hard not to squirm. After another ten minutes the tickling sensation was replaced by a light stinging sensation. Well he had been warned of this; he had endured more severe pain to not be able to endure it. And it would be worth it. He would get his abilities back.

After a total of forty minutes the ritual was finished. Harry was exhausted. Even after an hours long match of Quidditch he hadn't felt this spent. And he felt weird. As if a veil had been lifted from his senses. He tried to stand up, but realized he was too weak to even move his limbs. Then he felt the sensation of being gently lifted up. He opened his tired eyes and looked into the gray eyes of his godfather.

"You alright, Harry, well except for being tired?" He asked concerned.

It took Harry all his willpower and strength to just nod. Sirius looked at Snowcack.

"Do you have a room where Harry can rest for the next two hours until healer Thornfinger is ready for the ritual to transfer the horcrux?" He asked.

"Yes. Please follow me, Sirius." Snowcack said.

* * *

Sirius carefully balanced Harry in his arms. He realized just how much too light Harry was. No thirteen years old should weigh as much as perhaps a ten year old. The Dursleys would pay for this. He would hire the best lawyer there was to get for money and then justice would be served. Nobody messed with his family and Harry was family. True family unlike most of his blood relatives. He really could only call Andromeda family at the moment he thought. Sirius followed Snowcack through the main door of the room and down the floor until they stopped in front of another door.

"This is a guest room for those who have undergone the unblocking ritual. Use it to your needs. I will come and get you two when it is time for the transfer ritual." Snowcack said.

"Thank you very much, Snowcack." Sirius said with a bow.

"It is no problem, Sirius. You are a friend of the goblins so were his parents. And if what we have seen so far from him is any indication of his character he might become one as well." Snowcack replied.

With that Snowcack took his leave. Sirius opened the door and saw a normal sized bed. He walked over and pulled away the blanket while still holding Harry. It was a bit difficult but he managed it. Then he laid Harry down and put the blanket over him. The boy looked awfully tired. Sirius wanted to leave him so he could rest properly but when he stood up he could hear Harry's small voice.

"Please don't leave." He whispered.

Sirius sat down again.

"I will stay with you, Harry, if you want me to." He assured him.

Harry's face relaxed. Soon Sirius found the boy asleep. He wondered about the behavior of the boy. He had had the impression that Harry wanted to show that he was already independent and he had tried to respect his wishes. Now he figured that a good part of that was a mask to protect himself. Harry had never had anybody to turn to with his problems and had been forced to stand up for himself. But deep inside he had craved for somebody to lean on like a parent. Well this would be his job now, Sirius realized. And he wanted to do the best job possible for Harry. He deserved so much more than he had been allowed to have. He looked over the parchment with the test results. Parseltongue he had known about but not that he should have been able to do more than speak with snakes. What the hell included the active part? He was a natural animagus, well he could help Harry to develop this ability, being an animagus himself. Wandless magic was a rare gift but not as rare as the other two. It appeared in one of a thousand wizards and witches if he remembered right.

While he could use some wandless magic, it drained him immensely and was limited to easy spells like the screening charm that he had used on Hedwig. Perhaps he should send Harry to Professor Flitwick with this. The old Charms Master would probably know best how to help Harry develop this gift. He was also one of the few that were up to time with his teaching at Hogwarts. Some of the other subjects were massively outdated compared to what had been developed outside of Britain.

Few knew that Sirius had always been interested in the magical developments of the other countries. He had only told James and he had shared Sirius' thirst for knowledge. After all, the more knowledge they gained outside their normal studies, the better their pranks would be they figured. They had been shocked how far Britain was behind other countries in magic in some areas. Damn conservative bastards at the ministry who stopped developments to enter Britain they found inappropriate. Even the muggles were farther than the wizards.

What really infuriated Sirius was that Harry was really intelligent, an IQ of 180 would classify him as a genius. And he had been robbed of this, just because an old fool feared to lose control if Harry was smart enough to figure out he was manipulated. A photographic memory and high analytical abilities were perfect tools to ensure school success. Harry should easily be able to get O's in his exams to get top jobs. Hell, it was possible with these abilities and his heritage that Harry would have been sorted into Ravenclaw. Filius Flitwick would have been a great head of house for Harry. Especially with Lily's talent for Charms.

The other teachers, besides Flitwick, that knew their subject's stuff were Minerva McGonagall, a really gifted Transfiguration mistress and to learn all the basics of the subject the best possible source of knowledge, Professor Vector the Arithmancy witch and Professor Babbling the Ancient Runes teacher. Well Runes was not a subject that needed constant updating so a knowledgeable teacher would be sufficient there.

But the other core subjects were criminally neglected. History of Magic, a subject especially important for muggleborns or halfbloods raised in the muggle society was taught by a ghost of all things. A ghost who managed to put the whole class asleep in five minutes. Defense against the Dark Arts hadn't had a constant or even competent teacher in years. And they only lasted a year from what Harry had told him. Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort and Lockhart was a fraud who only advertised his books and taught them nothing. Two wasted years of education in a core subject. And with Voldemort lurking in the shadows a subject every witch or wizard should be proficient in.

Herbology while not nearly as bad as the other two subjects could use some fresh wind in the teaching plans. Pomona Sprout was competent in the field but she could inform herself about recent discoveries and involve them in her teachings. It would take a more intensive course for those who were interested in the subject after school to catch up to other who had learned outside of Britain. But it wasn't as bad as other areas. One year normally did the job to have the British wizards or witches catch up to their international colleagues.

Divination, he could only laugh that the subject was still taught at Hogwarts. It was an extremely unreliable branch of magic. And true seers were rare. Either you had the gift or you didn't. That was all there was to know about the subject. Muggle Studies, he would love to take the content of the course and rip it into pieces. It was totally outdated. He had, while traveling to find Harry, taken his time to investigate what literature was used in which subject. The books for Muggle Studies were from the 1940's. A time before the most recent developments the muggles did. A time where the 2nd muggle world war was still in action or in the later years finally calming down in its effects on the population.

There had been so many buildings and industries to be rebuild after the falling bombs. Hitler might not have reached his goal but he did a good number of damage to Britain and the other European countries. And coincidentally the wizards had been busy with Grindelwald at the same time. They couldn't help their muggle brothers in their war. They were busy with their own one until Dumbledore finally graced them with his help and put down Grindelwald. Why did he wait so long? This question would be worth investigating Sirius thought.

Next was Astronomy; it was slightly important to know when ingredients for Potions would be best gathered as some had their highest potency during certain star constellations. It also held importance for rituals. But hose weren't taught at Hogwarts and with the backwards attitude of the ministry a lot of them had been banned. Otherwise it wasn't an important subject. Except for orientation in the wild he added mentally. If you were forced to hide your magic and needed to find directions the firmament could lead you if you knew how to use it. But in this category muggles were more proficient than wizards. It was somewhat interesting and his own family had been very interested in it even going as far as naming all the male members of the family after stars or constellations.

Care of Magical Creatures, well there were things interesting about this subject but Hogwarts only showed so much of the creatures to the students. And the teacher was old, Sirius wondered when Professor Kettleburn would finally retire. And finally Potions. It was laughable to let Severus Snape of all people teach. Admittedly the greasy git was a Master at Potions but completely unsuited to teach students, especially with his biased ways to favor his Slytherins over all the other students. How many students had given up on Potions just because they couldn't stand that man any longer? Sirius would have to make sure Harry got additional tutoring in the subject to be able to avoid Snape's bullying.

Sirius stroke Harry's hair absentmindedly. He cared deeply for the boy. He had from the moment he had held Harry after he was born. And to prevent that anything happened to his godson he would have to make sure that Harry got a better education than until now. If it wouldn't isolate Harry from his friends and society he would think about home schooling but he knew how important friends were. He wouldn't want to miss his years at Hogwarts for anything.

Thankfully relearning what Harry should have learned in the last two years if he hadn't been blocked would be easy with Harry having a photographic memory. And he would have to add knowledge in the areas of subjects Hogwarts didn't offer but would be invaluable in the world like dueling, healing, foreign languages, warding and curse-breaking, and technomagic.

He would have to look into the subject to help Harry. Perhaps there were methods to learn theory without having to rely on the Hogwarts teachers outside of Britain, after all he would have a lot of time to kill when Harry returned to Hogwarts. He just hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid to 'protect Harry' from him. The last thing Hogwarts needed was an overprotective ministry that did more harm than good. And they were good at this. If they had just given him a trial all this mess would never have happened.

In this the muggles were far more conscious than the wizards. They had a saying in their law enforcement: 'Innocent until proven guilty.' And everybody had a right to get a fair trial. Sometimes in wartimes it was a short military trial but the accused had the right to get a lawyer to defend himself. But how could they get the ministry to hear a lawyer? Well perhaps if Harry used his influence. This would need some planning when Harry was free of the soul piece of Voldemort. Just some days and they could begin to train him properly and to catch up on what he had missed the last two years. He would prepare him to get out of this mess alive. He owed it to Lily and James, but mostly to Harry for whom he hadn't been there the past twelve years.

* * *

**Done! Wow long chapter. i hope you leave many reviews.**


	7. Getting rid of the Horcrux

**Hello everybody.**

**I was bored so I reread this chapter and as it is a bit shorter than the previous ones, it is the final part of the visit at Gringotts, I have it ready to be posted.**

**For those who asked about pairings, I haven't planned them yet. I am not sure if Harry will get a girlfriend during his third year in my story as there will be other things that will occupy his mind. Of course he will look at girls, perhaps develop a little crush but I think he won't start dating before fourth year.**

**I have plans for the development of the friendships with Ron and Hermione. While I won't tell you wh****at excactly I have planned I can say that Harry won't hold back for the sake of keeping them happy. He will show his new abilities. For more information you sadly will have to wait until I get there in the story. ;)**

**I don't know in which story I read about horcruxes that don't work as a means to immortality because otherwise there would be ancient egytian wizards around but it was a oneshot. So whoever wrote that story is given credit for that idea.**

**As always I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Have fun!**

* * *

**Getting rid of the horcrux**

Sirius had settled to read a book he had asked one goblin to lend him to pass the time. He sat beside Harry's bed waiting for Snowcack to return. Harry had been sleeping peacefully. Funnily Harry's hair color had changed a lot during his sleep. His unblocked metamorphmagus ability seemed to run havoc after being blocked for so long. He would have to learn how to control this ability fast if he wanted to remain unnoticed by Dumbledore. He just hoped that everything would be solved at the end and Harry finally free of Voldemort's soul piece. Then he finally heard the knock at the door he had been waiting for.

"Come in." He called.

"Sirius, everything is prepared. Please wake Harry and follow me. We will use the strongest ritual warded room we have. It has been some time since we have transferred a horcrux but the sages are confident that we won't have any problems."

"Thank you, Snowcack. I really appreciate all the help the goblins give Harry."

Sirius put the book aside and began shaking Harry to wake him up. After some tries Harry began to wake up.

"Uh?" He murmured clearly not completely recovered from the first ritual.

"It's time, Harry." Sirius explained gently.

"Okay." Harry said, trying to get up on his own.

"Don't, Harry. Keep your strength. I will carry you." Sirius stopped Harry.

Harry seemed to want to protest but then decided not to. He was just so tired. He let Sirius lift him from the bed, he still only wore his boxers, and put his arms around Sirius neck to have better hold.

* * *

Sirius then followed Snowcack really deep into the halls of Gringotts. This time the goblins had provided one of their special levitating discs to transport them. They could only be used by the goblins, as they were charmed by goblin magic. The disc had a diameter of two meters, just enough to give them enough space to stand comfortably. The ride on the disc took fifteen minutes and Sirius could only guess the time they would have needed to go on foot. Finally they arrived at their destination and left the disc.

"You are here, good." Thornfinger greeted them.

"The three sages are ready. Please remember that they are very wary of humans and only agreed to this because you are a friend of the goblins Lord Black. As were the boy's parents. Normally they wouldn't be bothered to help a human. But they see the necessity to stop the Dark Lord from throwing the world into terror again. We goblins also lost a lot of our own the last time he had risen to power. We don't want to repeat the experience."

"Of course, Healer Thornfinger. Thank you very much for the great service your nation is doing for my godson. I will make sure that you will be rewarded accordingly. My family has a lot of goblin made things in their possession and I wouldn't mind to part with some of them to repay the debt of this to you."

"That would be acceptable, Lord Black. Now please follow me. The ritual will take a little over two hours and Harry has to be completely isolated from any outside influence during this time. This is to ensure the smooth transfer from Harry to the new horcrux. If there was any outside influence the soul piece could be tempted to latch itself onto another body we don't want it to. The ritual has five steps.

"Step one is isolating the piece of the foreign soul in Harry's body from his own; this means severing any attachment it could possibly have made in Harry's mind.

"Step two is creating a pocket dimension for the transfer to use. In this dimension the soul piece will be tripped for a short amount of time while we reinforce the barriers around Harry so the soul piece can't return to him.

"Step three is the extraction of the soul piece from Harry. He most likely will be in pain during this part but it isn't possible to avoid it. We are pretty sure Harry will fall unconscious after the soul piece is extracted.

"Step four is the transfer in the pocket dimension.

"Step five and the last step is putting the soul piece from the pocket dimension into the new horcrux. This concludes the transfer. As you can see, we chose a cheap tin box as the new horcrux. It will be destroyed with fiendfire immediately afterwards so that it can't do any harm ever again."

Sirius looked grim but nodded. He knew it wouldn't be easy to get rid of the horcrux. But if it meant to save Harry's life it was worth it.

"No need to prolong this. Bring Mr. Potter to the center of the rune circle and then come back outside Lord Black. The sages will then begin." Thornfinger instructed.

Sirius followed the instructions.

"Be strong, Harry. After all this is over we will enjoy the next couple of days. Any special wishes?" Sirius asked.

"I always wanted to make a family trip to some kind of attraction. I never was allowed to come with the Dursleys when they took Dudley for his birthdays." Harry admitted.

"I will see what I can arrange. I will see you after the ritual and don't be afraid. I will be here and I won't leave you alone. Never again." He promised.

"Thank you." Harry whispered into his ear.

Then he let go of Sirius and lay down on the ground, closing his eyes hoping it would soon be over. He inertly steeled himself and got ready for anything.

* * *

The sages activated the barrier and began chanting in Gobbledygook. They wore different cloaks each. One was dark blue like the ocean, one was dark red and reminded Sirius of blood and one was strikingly white. The air became dense and Sirius just hoped Harry was alright. With each passing minute another rune circle began glowing. Soon Harry was surrounded by ten glowing rune circles.

"The first part will soon be finished. The circles are already dividing the two souls." Thornfinger explained.

Sirius was unable to take his eyes from Harry. He realized that he viewed the boy like his own son, the son he had always wished to have but had given up hope to ever get after his girlfriend was killed by death eaters and he had tried to distract himself by going after as many witches as possible. It hadn't worked he had only loved that one woman and with her loss he had lost hope for a child of his own. When James had made him Harry's godfather it had been as if a veil had been partially lifted, he had sworn to protect James' son as if he was his own and it was painful to stand aside and see him suffering like he was. Unable to do anything for him but giving moral support.

"Your part will come, Sirius." Snowcack said reading his friends expression.

"Harry will need somebody to trust. He will have to relearn much of his magical abilities and you are currently the only adult he can turn to."

"I know. And I intend to do the best job as his guardian I can."

"Don't you mean more as his father? I can see you feel like that for the boy and I can also see that it is his greatest wish to have a father. Just make it official, Sirius. This is what James and Lily would want you to do."

"How could I? The ministry would never allow me to adopt Harry as long as I am believed to have killed all those muggles and have betrayed Lily and James." Sirius said gritting his teeth.

"Ever thought of blood adoption? He would then be your son as well as James' and Lily's son. It won't change his outer appearance much and it wouldn't influence his inheritance as well. But I think it would mean the world to him to know that he is wanted by someone. I could see it in his behavior. He craves a family. If I am honest, I am surprised that he still dares to hope to gain the love of a family after all he has been through in his life. Many bury those feelings deep inside themselves to not be hurt anymore." Snowcack commented.

"My colleague is absolutely right with his observations. The boy is already attached to you. You are his legal guardian and we can prove your innocence by just presenting a memory for a pensieve to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I know Amelia Bones the current head isn't as hard headed as some others and would at least look at the memories if we trick her a little." Thornfinger said.

"Is that possible?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Yes. You just need to draw the memory in question from your head and Gringotts would take care of the delivery. We can send it in anonymously saying the witness in question fears retribution if he delivered the memory himself to solve this case. At least the memory would be seen and then questions would be asked. Questions that should have been asked twelve years ago. I doubt that you will be cleared of all charges without presenting the true culprit but they can't send you back to Azkaban with this kind of evidence in their hands. Even Dumbledore would have his problems to manage this. Especially when the goblins are demanding answers in the light of the new proof of your innocence." Snowcack grinned deviously.

"That would be great. And I know where the culprit is hiding. It will just take a very good plan to get hold of him. The culprit, Peter Pettigrew has found a wizarding family and made use of his animagus form. He lives there as the pet of one of the family's sons. Harry's best friend at that." Sirius told them.

"I see. That would be an ideal position to strike in case the Dark Lord managed to return. Well he will have to cancel the rebirth party invitation, we will make sure he is rotting in Azkaban." Snowcack stated.

"That would be my dream, him in my place where he should have been for the whole time." Sirius replied.

They returned spending their whole attention to the ritual. The circles now glowed blue.

"The second step is complete, the pocket dimension is ready to imprison the soul piece. Now the hard part for Harry starts. Remember, you can't help him now. He will be okay in the end, but you can't enter the circle now" Thornfinger reminded Sirius.

He nodded but the goblins could see him clenching his fists. He wanted to spare Harry the pain that was sure to come. And just as he thought it, Harry began thrashing around and screaming. It cost Sirius every bit of self-control to stop himself from running to Harry.

* * *

Harry's body was encircled by red lines of light. The pulling from his scar was extremely painful. It felt like his soul was on fire. He knew it would hurt but this was inhuman. He wanted to pass out, but something stopped him. He was kept aware of everything, he could hear whispering to stop the ritual, that he needed the whispering thing. Harry just wanted this to end, he wanted his freedom, he wanted a family, he wanted to be a normal boy, and he wanted to be loved by a parent like all the other kids.

This seemed to be the final straw. The soul piece screeched and was forcefully ejected from Harry's body. Harry could only see a black cloud building from his scar, that from the feeling of it, had broken open and the thing was finally out. His job was done. He let the blissful unconsciousness take him over.

It was hard to just stand by and look. In the meantime Sirius fists were bleeding from digging his fingernails into the flesh of his hands. Thornfinger just shook his head. He silently moved his hands over Sirius fists, unclenched them and healed the small wounds.

The soul piece was sucked into the pocket dimension. Sirius could see a new barrier being built between Harry and the cloud that resembled the pocket dimension. It took a lot of time for the barrier to stabilize. Then the dark cloud reappeared and was thrusted into the prepared tin box. This part took a lot of time. But then it was finally done. All in all the time the goblins had predicted had been met but by two minutes. Sirius reassured with Thornfinger that it was alright to get Harry and went to him.

He looked pale. Really pale. From his forehead ran blood down but after cleaning it away with a tissue, Sirius could see that the scar was far less pronounced than it had been before. The ritual was obviously successful. He took Harry and carried him to Thornfinger to have him examine Harry to make sure everything was alright. While Thornfinger did his job, Sirius went towards the three sages.

"I want to thank you three very much for what you did today. I will forever be in the debt of the goblins for this. I you ever need anything I can do for you, just call me, I will do everything in my power to help you." Sirius bowed deeply before the sages.

"It is good to see that not all wizards have forgotten their good manners. We see that you are sincere about your claim, Lord Black. We will remember it. We want to wish your young charge the best in the world. He will need all the help he can get to face the obstacles that will be pushed in his way. He is special this boy. He has great magical powers. If trained properly he could be the one changing the world. We see our help as an investment in the future."

"I am sure Harry will do his best to prove your expectations in him right. I bid you my goodbye and wish that your gold will never cease and your business always go well."

"The same to you Lord Black, the same to you." They answered before leaving him.

Sirius got Harry's clothes and took to redress his godson. He arranged an appointment with Snowcack in five days' time and left the goblins a copy of his memories regarding the identity of the Potter's secret keeper and what really happened when he cornered Peter. Snowcack promised Sirius to send them to Amelia Bones anonymously.

Using another portkey to get back to Grimmauld place, Sirius bade the goblins goodbye and vanished.

* * *

**And done. As I said it is shorter than the previous ones. I hope you liked it. Until next weekend.**


	8. Family Revelations

**Hello fans and those who want to become ones.**

**I was really happy how many reviews I got since last weekend. Over thirty reviews in one week is really good in my opinion.**

**Another week is gone and I have tried to use all the helpful comments from David305 to improve on my writing style. I admit gerund really isn't my forte. I haven't corrected the already posted chapters, if I do it will take some time as those were a lot of suggestions for improving.**

**I think this is the longest chapter so far and it will clear up some questions I have been asked by some, one of them the reason for the blood adoption. But to find out you will have to read the chapter ;)**

**The usual disclaimer: JKR owns Harry Potter not me :(**

**Have fun with this chapter.**

* * *

**Family revelations**

Sirius needed something to occupy his time while Harry was unconscious. He only had to make sure that Harry was given the potion from the goblins once a day. Thankfully a few drops on Harry's tongue took care of the nutrients and water Harry's body needed. It would have been difficult getting them into Harry's body without the help of a trained healer otherwise.

So Sirius decided to rid the house of as much dark magic as he could. He was quite successful. His measurement was Kreacher. The more cheerful the elf appeared, the more effective Sirius' efforts were. It was far from perfect but compared to how the elf used to behave in the past it was as different as night and day.

In the evening after reading the newest fantasies the Daily Prophet had come up with, oh yes Rita Skeeter was in her element without a doubt, as if any of those people had ever done anything for Harry who now held big speeches. And the biggest actor was Dumbledore himself. Voicing his worry over Harry's well-being via a letter he had written from the ICW conference, as if he cared for his well-being, he cared if he lost his weapon, nothing more. Harry was just a piece on Dumbledore's chessboard.

And Rita's incredibly sharp quill pointed it out really nicely. After her first relatively tame article about Harry's disappearance she had obviously started investigating and found a lot of dirt in the case. The Ministry was torn to pieces as Rita had found out that the normal procedures for magical orphans who were placed with muggle relatives had been completely ignored in Harry's case. Rita had written two very scathing articles that left the Ministry in a shady light at best.

She also used his continued evasion of the Ministry as another black mark on the efficiency of the Ministry and pointed out the utter incompetence of the Fudge and Bagnold administrations. Oh how Sirius loved to read those articles. He kept them with the intention of giving them to Harry to read when he woke up. He was sure Harry would find them funny.

He now could answer Lily's question in her old letter without a doubt. Bathilda Bagshot hadn't been crazy. Dumbledore had been friends with Grindelwald in his youth. The nonsense about the greater good was just the excuse he needed to manipulate other people's lives. As if his meddling had stopped the rise of Voldemort, if anything it had furthered it. If Harry was right, then with a bit of incentive Voldemort's very creation could have been prevented.

How could a boy that hated muggles like Tom Riddle have been sent back every summer? Instead of finding a wizarding family who would show him, that he was indeed appreciated, they had to do the most idiotic thing one could imagine. And it would have been easy to place such a highly talented boy in a wizarding family. Many families would have seen the profit from having one of the upcoming most influential and powerful wizards allied with them. Really even if the young Tom Riddle had been labeled as a muggleborn, one test at Gringotts, which had really been standard during that time period, and voila one descendant of Salazar Slytherin discovered.

All the influential pureblood families would have loved to take him in. The honor of housing the new Lord Slytherin would have been enough to make them fight over the boy. And while the beliefs of the pureblood families weren't all that noble most of the time, they would have instilled the code of honor among wizards in the young boy. And this code said, at least in the pureblood extreme version, that while muggleborns were below pureblood by a large margin, magical blood was to be protected at all costs. With enough grooming over decades the impure blood could be bred out and be allowed as a minor pureblood base.

What a lot of normal witches and wizards didn't know because the old families made sure it was a well-kept secret was that they normally looked out for obviously powerful muggleborn children. Those children were kidnapped, their parents obliviated and the children raised in the pureblood families as another child born into the family. That practice was very popular between 1800 and 1890. Most of the pureblood families today denied that it ever happened but it was a common occurrence. Sirius knew for a fact that his great-great-granduncle Sagittarius Castor Black was one of those kidnapped children. It just didn't add up with the pregnancy of his supposed mother.

After all, his older sister had been born just eight months before him. It just wasn't possible. No magical pregnancy ended prematurely except when somebody forced the birth to happen earlier. But those children had a higher probability of becoming squibs so no pureblood would do something like that. Sagittarius hadn't been the heir to the family but he brought fresh blood into the family and powerful magic. He had been one of the most successful warding specialists of his time and many of the obscure wards around #12 Grimmauld place were his inventions.

During this time period the pureblood families also developed the blood adoption potion. For one if both adopting parents gave their blood for the potion the child would look like their biological child. If only one parent gave the blood it altered the appearance of the child but remains of the biological parents were left. But most importantly the blood adopted child was able to learn the secret family magic. Often only children by blood of the family were able to perform certain spells, rituals, curses or arts unique to the family. It was what made the old families so powerful. The heir ring of a family would also only accept a family member by blood and give the protection it was supposed to give.

A nice side effect of the secret practice, which only the Lords knew about, was that by enlarging the gene pool, which they didn't know that it was that as this was a muggle discovery, with the magical potential of the muggleborn children they got fewer squib births in the pureblood families. And all the lower ranked family members cared about was that they got a pureblood witch or wizard for marriage. As long as the children were kidnapped at a young age nobody was any the wiser as the children normally only really went public when it was time for them to attend Hogwarts. From the old diaries he had read approximately six-hundred children were 'transferred' this way every year just in Britain and France.

Dumbledore was now repeating the same mistakes with Harry that he had made with Riddle. Letting him grow up at the Dursleys was asking for trouble. If nobody interfered, Harry could become a second Dark Lord. He would never join Voldemort after he killed his parents, but hell if it wasn't possible that after he killed Voldemort, he would take his place if pushed far enough.

But no, it wasn't even given a thought. The wizarding community blindly followed Dumbledore like lemmings. In the end they would wonder how it could have happened that they had jumped off a cliff after their infallible leader. It was a big problem that they refused to think for themselves. Let the ministry think for us, let the wise man Professor Dumbledore think for us. Our lives are good, why should we change them? He wanted to beat around him because of thinking like this.

And they truly expected a thirteen year old boy to save them if they were pushed into a war again. They didn't learn anything the last time. They just were relieved that Voldemort was gone, praised Harry for his deed and returned to their old way of living, happily ignoring the fact that the muggles outnumbered the wizards easily by fifty to one. But math was not a common strength among wizards. Logic neither.

After he had calmed down a bit from his mental ranting, Sirius remembered the letter from his brother Snowcack had given him. He really wondered why Regulus would write him of all people before his death. So he took the letter, opened the envelope and unfolded the parchment inside. He began reading.

* * *

_Dear Sirius,_

_I know you will probably wonder why the hell I would write to you. I can understand your thoughts as we haven't been that close after you were sorted into Gryffindor when you started at Hogwarts. I just couldn't understand why you would betray the ways our family has lived by for centuries._

_After my recent experiences with the Dark Lord's activities, I think I can understand you a lot better. While I still think, that there are too many differences between pureblood wizards and those raised by muggles, I am disgusted how far the Dark Lord is willing to go. Human lives don't count for him. Especially not muggle lives. He is worse than Grindelwald was in his time. And he was one of the vilest wizards to ever try to gain power. _

_Grindelwald wanted to rule over the world, making the muggles his servants, if the Dark Lord could go through with it he would just kill them all and be done with it. Or degrade them to the status of house elves. You know that I always had a soft spot for Kreacher, our old elf. After what I have learned, I am disgusted with myself to ever have joined the death eaters. I was so stupid._

_Voldemort has to be stopped at all costs. I found out how he has managed to ensure he lives even if he would be hit with a killing curse. He is obsessed with immortality. He is insane. He asked for an elf one day. I didn't think anything about it and offered Kreacher's service to him. I ordered Kreacher to return to me after his deed for the Dark Lord was done. I never imagined what he would do to poor Kreacher._

_Kreacher told me he was taken to a cave with a black lake inside it. There were various safety measures. The only possibility to cross the lake was in a green boat. The lake was filled with inferi. In the middle was a pedestal with a basin on it. In the basin was some kind of potion. He made Kreacher drink the entire potion._

_Kreacher saw all kinds of awful things and horrible memories. He wanted to stop but he was forced to go on. After all the potion was drunk, the Dark Lord placed a locket in the basin, refilled the potion and left the island with Kreacher on it, using the boat. The potion caused severe thirst. So Kreacher crawled to the lake and drank from the water, only to be pulled under the water by the inferi. I was horrified after he told me this. I am glad I ordered Kreacher to return._

_Thankfully the Dark Lord is too obsessed with the superiority of wizards to house-elves and other magical creatures to even consider Kreacher could have escaped from the island and told me anything. I have hidden Kreacher after this and cured him of the potion. _

_Sirius, I know you and your friends are fighting him under mortal peril. I don't want you or anyone else to die because of the Dark Lord's insanity. So I will tell you what I found out. He is using horcruxes to stay alive. One is the locket, I found out he made more, but I am not sure what they are. I can only speculate that there are seven in total._

_He really is obsessed with that number. The most powerful magical number. If he ever got hold of a pureblooded seventh child of a family, I don't want to imagine what he would do to use this child._

Sirius paused. Ginny was the seventh child of the Weasley's. So there was more to it than her being the little sister of Harry's best friend. He would have to tell Harry to get him to look out for Ginny when he returned to Hogwarts.

Sirius, I hope you can use this information to stop the Dark Lord for I will not be there to do it. I will entrust Kreacher to destroy the locket but I don't know if he will be able to do it. I haven't really found out how you can destroy a horcrux, I am just really terrified how it is created. To kill an innocent just to save your own life. To split your soul several times? He is insane and has to be stopped.

_I told you what happened to Kreacher. I will let him take me there but I will drink the potion myself. I don't want Kreacher to go through this again. This will be my death and I know it. I just hope my information will help you to kill the freak for good. This isn't the way a pureblood should behave. It took me too long to see this, but in the end I will take a page from your book and collect all my courage to do the right thing._

_To protect the family I will tell Kreacher to not say anything about my death. It will protect them from his wrath if he thinks they still support him. I'm sorry to say that Bella is a lost cause. She is completely into this thing, Cissy can probably be saved. She hasn't taken the mark yet. _

_I beg you Sirius to complete my task._

_Love your brother_

_Regulus _

* * *

Sirius reread the letter again and again. Why had nobody thought about giving him this letter before? This could have been the crucial information in the war against Voldemort. He knew why Kreacher hadn't told him anything. Regulus had forbidden him to tell the family anything. The magic enslaving the house elves was preventing him to do so and he had never considered him as his Master as much as he had Regulus. Due to the family's beliefs the house elf was influenced.

"Kreacher." Sirius called.

The elf apparated with a crack.

"Master has called?" The elf asked bowing.

"Yes, I want you to read this letter please. My brother Regulus wrote it to me shortly before he went to his death." Sirius said and gave Kreacher the letter, who reverently held it. He read and tears filled the elf's eyes.

"Poor Master Regulus." He sobbed.

"Yes, I never would have thought that my little brother had so much courage. He was a great wizard to sacrifice his life to stop Voldemort's evil plans. I have to admit I have done him wrong. But I never knew he had seen the truth. Kreacher, could you please tell me if you succeeded in destroying the locket like Regulus said?" Sirius asked.

Kreacher began wailing.

"Kreacher is a bad elf. Kreacher has failed Master Regulus last order. Kreacher tried everything he knew. He hit it with magic and heavy things. He tried melting it with fire, freezing it with ice and crushing it, but nothing worked. Kreacher punished himself and tried again. Bur he failed again and punished himself. And Kreacher couldn't tell his poor mistress what had happened to her beloved son because Master Regulus had forbidden Kreacher to tell his secret."

Kreacher attempted to punish himself again.

"Kreacher stop. I order you to stop punishing yourself for not being able to destroy the horcrux." Sirius immediately said.

"Master?" Kreacher asked.

Sirius took a few deep breaths. He had to do this very carefully.

"Kreacher, do you still have the locket?" He asked.

"Yes, it is in your father's study. Kreacher is sure the way to destroy the locket is to open it, but it won't open whatever Kreacher tried." The elf told him.

"Please show me the thing."

Kreacher obeyed and led Sirius to the locket.

"This is it, Master Sirius." Kreacher told him.

"I see. Thank you, Kreacher, for showing me this. I will think of something to destroy it. My brother will not have died in vain. And I will find the others to destroy Voldemort once and for all. He is threatening Harry's life." Sirius looked determined.

"Master knows how to destroy this horcrux?" Kreacher asked.

"I have an idea. You see the S on the locket? It is the mark of Slytherin. I would recognize it anywhere. It is on most of the Slytherin related items in Hogwarts. Slytherin was a parselmouth. It wouldn't be too farfetched to believe that you had to be able to speak parseltongue to open the locket." Sirius explained.

"But that is impossible to find Master. Master Regulus told Kreacher the Dark Lord was the only living descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

"True Kreacher, very true. But what you don't know is that Harry has gotten the ability to speak parseltongue when he was hit by Voldemort's curse when he was a baby. By now it is his ability. Harry was accidentally made a horcrux Kreacher, just like the locket. The goblins at Gringotts thankfully knew a way to transfer the soul piece of Voldemort into a simple tin box without any protections. It was destroyed by fiend fire. One of the few things able to destroy a horcrux.

"Harry already destroyed one last year when he fought the soul piece that tried to take over the life force of Ginny Weasley, the little sister of Harry's best friend to return to life. It was a diary. We need to connect the dots and put the pieces of this puzzle into place. Perhaps we then will be able to find out what the last horcruxes are. Then my brother can rest in peace." Sirius pondered.

Kreacher seemed to be really touched. Suddenly his whole demeanor changed.

"Master Sirius can be sure Kreacher will do everything to help Master Sirius and Master Harry to stop the Dark Lord. He will keep his Masters' secrets and be the best elf. Kreacher is proud to serve Master Sirius and Master Harry." THe elf firmly stated.

Sirius was stunned. He didn't expect that. His words must have had a big impact on Kreacher. He now could be absolutely sure that his elf would be loyal.

"Thank you, Kreacher. Harry and I appreciate your loyalty. By the way, would you like it if Harry became part of the Black family? I plan to ask Harry if he wants me to blood adopt him. Then nobody could legally take him away from me. He would still be a Potter, but he would also be a Black and my son." Sirius wondered why he asked the elf, but somehow it felt right.

"It would be an honor to serve Master Harry as your son, Master Sirius. Kreacher is sure Master Harry will be very happy." Kreacher answered.

Sirius smiled. He really hoped Harry would agree to the adoption. He just knew if they didn't do it this way, Dumbledore would try to send Harry to someone he could control better, stating that because Sirius had stayed in Azkaban for all those years he would not be suited to look after Harry. And with the political power behind Dumbledore it could be a real possibility that when Sirius had proven his ability to care for Harry he would be too late and Harry would be forcefully adopted by one of Dumbledore's minions. Or the so called 'Imperius Victims' would give enough money to Fudge to buy one of them Harry's adoption.

No, the best option was if Harry accepted being adopted by Sirius with the blood adoption ceremony. In the wizarding world blood was really important.

* * *

Sirius sat in his study pondering how he would start Harry's training. Probably it would be best to test how much of the material taught in the first two years Harry had mastered. Thinking about it, he was glad, that Harry had been freed of his blockages this early. It would have been really hard for him to relearn and master even further material. Even with a photographic memory. He had gotten the books for the two years that had been in Harry's trunk. He immediately told Kreacher to throw away the Lockhart books. Whatever Dumbledore's thought had been to let that idiot teach defense, it wasn't a coherent one.

He just hoped that they would get a decent teacher this year. The book on the list at least looked promising. Seems this guy at least knew his subject somewhat. It was just a mystery to him why Hogwarts had so many problems keeping a DADA teacher more than a year. The subject was interesting and after the war there were many who had gotten some practice in the arts and were able to teach it to the students. Especially retired aurors. If they would be offered to help out by the ministry, the teaching problem of Hogwarts would be a lot better helped.

But probably that would be too much interference for the old coot. A teacher with close connections to the ministry wasn't the way he liked to run his school. He liked to have people absolutely loyal to him.

Sirius had taken some strolls into muggle London to get some inspiration for the trip Harry had wished to make. He had found quite a few things he could do with him. He decided for now he would take Harry to the zoo in London. It was a good deal bigger than the one the Dursleys had taken him to on his cousin's birthday. He was sure Harry would enjoy the day.

He also had seen an interesting advertisement at Flourish and Blott's on his one visit to Diagon Alley with heavily transformed features. They had flyers of foreign teaching materials. On his question why they had the flyers as he had never heard about these teaching materials before, he was told that they weren't available at the shop. But as the owner of the advertising company was the son-in-law of the shop owner, he agreed to lay out the flyers. Up to now, there hadn't been a big response. They concluded that it wouldn't end up making a lot of money in Britain, as the lectures severely differed from the Hogwarts curriculum. Sirius took a flyer, to at least broaden his horizon as he told the clerk.

He read the flyer intensively. It would be perfect for Harry to learn. At least in the subjects he would not be properly taught at Hogwarts. Sirius decided to order learning materials on History of Magic, Potions and practical defense. If the materials were any good he would consider ordering more for Harry at a later time. He filled out the order and asked Hedwig if she would deliver the letter for him. She agreed readily and took off.

Sirius also had gotten himself a new wand. The wandmaker at Knockturn Alley had been expensive, but worth his keeping quiet. The new wand was of Yew with a dragon heartstring core.

Sirius was waiting for Harry to wake up. He had been unconscious for the two days the goblins had foretold it would take for him to recover. Sirius hoped Harry would feel well enough to talk for a while after waking up. He wanted to tell him what he had planned and found out. And he would ask him, if he wanted him to adopt him. Ever since the goblins had suggested it he found himself enjoying the thought. He never had had time to have a family of his own, even if he had had enough female admirers to be quite knowledgeable in this area. But none of them had been the one to catch his heart completely like James had found the one for him in Lily.

There was attraction but it never evolved into something more. How could he settle for a half-hearted relationship while seeing the unbearable love-struck face of his best friend whenever he looked at Lily? It hurt thinking about them, he dearly missed them. He really wished he could at least contact Remus but he knew in his current situation that was too dangerous. Due to Dumbledore's kindness in Remus' past he was completely loyal to the man and would only change his mind, if he was confronted with undeniable evidence. And evidence meant showing him the test results of Harry and some of his darker childhood memories in a pensieve.

Thinking of pensieves, he should show Harry how they worked. They were really useful. And for his new learning materials, they used a pensieve as a medium. Quite ingenious to be honest. He would have to speak with the goblins to make an investment in the company. Even if the courses wouldn't be accepted well in Britain, the rest of the world was a different matter. And there were a lot of home schooled children who would benefit from this possibility.

Sirius had listed the things he needed to do and marked those he had already initiated. The meeting at Gringotts in three days would be an important step. He was interrupted from his musing as Kreacher came into the room.

"Master Sirius, Master Harry has awoken. He seems to be a bit disorientated."

"Thank you for letting me know, Kreacher. I will go to his room and help him sort things out. I'm sure he will be a bit overwhelmed by everything that has happened." Sirius said.

Kreacher bowed and left the room. Sirius stood up and walked to Harry's room.

* * *

He opened the door and looked at Harry, who sat in his bed looking around. The most curious part was that he didn't wear his glasses.

"Hey, Harry. I see you finally decided to grace us normal mortals with your presence." Sirius joked.

Harry managed a smile.

"Hey Sirius. How long was I out?" He asked.

"Nearly two full days. How are you feeling?"

"Strange. Like I have been living in a world of fog and now the fog is gone. I don't even need my glasses to see. How can this be? I always had to wear them."

"I can only guess there. Maybe the blocks that stopped you from thinking properly left a strain on the nerves in your eyes so you needed your glasses. And now, that the strain is gone, your eyes are back to normal. Perhaps it even was the soul piece. There isn't much information on horcruxes in general, but a living one is unheard of. Especially a human one. We don't know the complete effects everything had on you. Therefore we will check which spells you can still perform from your first two years and in doubt practice everything so you can get a good start into your new year at Hogwarts."

Sirius grinned.

"If I am not mistaken, your friend Hermione will have trouble keeping her top spot."

Harry suddenly grew solemn.

"What's the matter, Harry? Are you afraid to show everybody that you are not the average student they believe you to be?" Sirius asked.

"No, with that I will be able to cope. I can just brush it off as after the last two years I decided to be ready whenever Voldemort tries to return next and put every effort in learning as much as I could to survive. But what will I tell them where I was this summer? I'm sure they will have heard then that I disappeared suddenly. I really don't want to lie to them. They are my best friends after all." Harry said worriedly.

"Just ask them to wait until you are ready to tell them. Promise them, that you will tell them everything but you can't for certain reasons at the time. The goblins have already sent my memories to Amelia Bones. If we are lucky she will start a thorough investigation." Sirius calmed him down.

* * *

Just as Sirius and Harry were speaking, Amelia Bones was really researching everything about the Sirius Black case. There simply was no flaw in the memories that had been sent to her via the goblins. They were authentic. Nobody had tampered with them. They had sent an innocent man to Azkaban for twelve years. How the man was still sane was a miracle.

The idiot Fudge refused to even listen to the suggestion that there might have been mistakes at the time. He assured her that the evidence was striking and that the public would be in uproar if they even hinted that the ministry made a mistake. The ministry would lose face and that couldn't be allowed. But she wouldn't cave in. Not this time. Sirius was innocent. And she suspected he was behind Harry Potter's disappearance.

That meant the only way to get the Boy-Who-Lived back would be to give Black a chance to prove his innocence. It was ridiculous. Even an average lawyer would be able to win this case in Black's favor. A good one, and she was sure Black could afford one of the best, would make an example of it and make the Ministry pay for their mistakes. To not give every convict a trial was illegal. Sure they had been at war with You-Know-Who but after it was over, they could have held the trials just to show that the ministry was no joke.

But nobody had cared. They had the so called death eaters in Askaban, especially the supposed right hand man Sirius Black. Oh yes it would cause an uproar. One that was overdue. And she would make sure it came to that. Even if she had to trick and blackmail the Wizengamot into doing it. She had international contacts. If she played her cards right, she could get everything set up before the meddlers Fudge and Dumbledore caught on to her plans. She had a reputation to maintain and she would do so. She wasn't the most well liked head of her department for six decades for nothing. She was stern but fair. A reason she was able to get along with Minerva McGonagall so well.

* * *

Harry listened intently on Sirius' story and read the letter from Sirius brother.

"So he made more? How will we be able to find and destroy them? I'm sure it won't be easy." Harry asked.

"I don't know. But I think it would be a safe bet to look out for more heirlooms of the Hogwarts founders. The only thing we can rule out is the sword of Gryffindor." Sirius said.

"Why is that, Sirius?" Harry was curious.

"Well, the sword was made by goblins. Goblin made weapons are able to shrug of anything that would damage them, but they take in everything that would strengthen them. You killed a basilisk with the sword. The blade now is impregnated with basilisk venom. A horcrux can only be destroyed by something so destructive that a magical repair is impossible. And due to there being only one antidote to basilisk venom it is a very safe way to destroy horcruxes. Fiendfire like the goblins used on the one in you after it was transferred is way too hard to control to use it normally. You need exceptional wards to pull that off." Sirius explained.

Harry understood.

"There is something else I want to ask you, Harry." Sirius said collecting himself.

"What is it, Sirius?"

"You know that I am your godfather, but there is the problem that even after I am cleared of the charges against me, a lot of people would argue against me raising you like your parents wanted me to do." Sirius started.

"But I want to live with you!" Harry interrupted. "The few days I have spent with you were the happiest of my life. It was like finally having a real family." He whispered at the end.

Sirius just embraced Harry.

"I know and I don't intend to let them take you away from me. I spoke with Snowcack and Thornfinger about it, when the ritual for the transfer of the soul piece was at its peak. They suggested a way that nobody could force us apart if I was found innocent. It's called blood adoption. It is an old way often used in pureblood families that had no heir left or if the heir was sterile. The adopted participant will become of the blood of the adopting one. If you agree I would blood adopt you as my son. You would still be James and Lily's son, but also mine." Sirius informed Harry.

Sirius let the message sink in. This was a huge thing for Harry to think about. He knew it as it would change his life immensely.

"You really want to adopt me, Sirius?" Harry asked with a trembling voice.

"Yes, I would like nothing better." Sirius confirmed.

"And not only because I am your best friend's son?" Harry asked.

"I will admit that plays a part in my decision. But I want to have you as my son, because you are a great boy. You were willing to believe me and let me tell you my story before judging. You have shown so much courage in dealing with everything that was shoved in your way to hinder you. You want to help others and ask for so little for yourself. Of course I want you Harry."

"I would like to be your son, Sirius." He said, tears streaming down his face.

Tears of happiness that had their cause in thirteen years of bottled up emotions. Sirius just held Harry and let him cry. It was good to finally let it all out and by letting go of his emotions and allowing himself to cry for his past, he could leave it behind to start a new life.

* * *

**And done. Hope you like it, until next weekend.**


	9. Learning Decisions

**Hello everybody. It's time for this weekend's update.**

**First Disclaimer: All praise to JKR for thinking up this amazing universe we are all so happily playing with.**

**Second Credit: The idea of using a pensieve for lessons is from 'Guardian' by Logicalmagic, a very good story where Sirius takes charge of helping Harry, which sadly hasn't been updated for quite some time.**

**Third Thanks: I love getting so many reviews. I hope nobody is mad that I don't answer them individually but I think most questions will be answered during the story moving forward. But I really cherish them and read each of them.**

**Fourth: Have fun!**

* * *

**Learning decisions**

Two days later Hedwig returned with the training materials Sirius had ordered. Harry had been up the day before, even if he had to rest regularly. He was quite curious what the international teachers, who had given their input for the lessons, were like and how they taught their subjects. He had, when he had first read his history book, thought magical history being a fascinating subject, but with Binns teaching it, it was unbearable. Sirius opened the parcel Hedwig had brought while Harry was stroking his owl and giving her some owl treats.

Sirius read the instructions and the material that would be covered.

"All right, they have set up a systematic study plan. Each lesson is between 45 to 60 minutes long, depending on the subject. They are recordings of lessons given in magical classes outside Britain, especially in the USA. It makes sense, since it is the biggest English speaking community outside Britain. You start with the first lesson, by taking place as a student in the class. You get to see the other students interacting with the professors but are unable to ask questions on your own as it is a relived memory. Hm, I think a big reason why this learning program would have problems here in Britain is the rarity of pensieves. The old pureblood families have normally one but they are really expensive for those not earning a lot of money. But from the brochure they had, they are a lot cheaper outside of Britain. I wonder why." Sirius said.

"How do you build a pensieve? I mean, somebody must be able to make them if they are better available outside of Britain." Harry asked.

"Well, they mostly are carved from magical receptive materials, mostly stone or crystal gathered near magical ley lines. But that isn't the problem normally. I think the problem is that you have to combine Runes, Arithmancy, Potions and Charms, if I remember it correctly, to create a working pensieve. Not many witches and wizards have that combination of abilities here. I think that would be the reason for them becoming rare. Enchanting, the branch of magic that mainly deals with permanent spells is a profession rarely taken, but good enchanters can earn a fortune."

Harry nodded.

"What can I do if I have questions after the class is finished?" He asked.

Sirius read through the manual.

"There is the possibility to write your questions down on a piece of parchment that is delivered with the materials. It is enchanted to answer every question to the topic covered in the classes. If you have questions that are above the material you would have to write a letter to the professor in question or look it up on your own in the suggested literature to go with the course."

"Wouldn't it be easier to find a way to be able to directly communicate with the professors?" Harry asked.

"It would and they are obviously working to solve this problem, but as the idea is relatively new they haven't found a solution yet. The parchment alone is quite advanced. My parents have thought about having Regulus and me being taught privately but the education at Hogwarts was far better as there are many teachers to ask about the things covered in the lessons. Not to forget the connections the pureblood families expected their children to make there. Often the contacts you make at Hogwarts will help you in your later life." Sirius informed Harry.

"That makes sense I guess." Harry admitted.

"Well, ready to try a lesson? I'm quite curious myself how the lessons will be." Sirius asked.

"Yes, let's try it. It can't be worse than Binns' history lessons." Harry stated.

Sirius nodded and poured the silver memory substance into the pensieve. He let Harry go first, and then he plunged his own head into the substance.

* * *

They found themselves in a big classroom with nearly forty students.

"Welcome to today's lesson on history." The professor greeted.

"We will cover the goblin wars and similarities to the wars against recent dark Lords today. As you all know, goblins are powerful magical creatures. They are really intelligent and today they are mostly known for running most of the wizarding banks there are. The most wide-spread one would be the British Gringotts, followed by the American Binnings. But not always have the relations between wizards and goblins been that peaceful."

He pointed his wand at the board and an animated war scene was played for a few minutes.

"Wizards and goblins have fought hard in the past to come to the status quo. Unlike other magical races like the house elves, which many people still treat as nothing more than slaves, especially in Britain where you will find this a common trait in some old pureblood families, not in all, but in many of them, the goblins are a race of warriors and they take pride in this aspect of their culture. This has been proven the hard way to wizards all over the world. They massively underestimated their opponents and their determination to fight for their freedom and their rights.

"It would be wrong to say that all the problems between wizards and goblins have been solved, they aren't, but the two races get along with each other. People tend to forget that being different doesn't mean the other one is evil or out to harm you. This is a character trait you will find in all human societies, be they magical or muggle. The human nature leads to fear of the unknown. Many dark Lords and Ladies have used this fact for their own gain.

"The two dark Lords that have appeared in Europe during this century are good examples. Gellert Grindelwald was the first. His rise to power was mostly based on the fear of the wizarding populace that if the muggles found out about them, they would return to their practice of witch hunts and burnings. The political situation in central Europe made it even easier for him to succeed in his ambitions. The fascists were singling out people they thought beneath them and in 1939 the German Nazis started World War II. Grindelwald used the fear the war inflicted upon the wizarding population, getting them to believe he had the solution to free them from the muggle terror.

"Nobody knew it at the time but Grindelwald used the ignorance of the abilities of the muggles to get rid of political opponents. Many wizarding families who protested against his methods suddenly disappeared, many of them to the so called concentration camps or they were killed on sight. Only after his defeat many found out that their leader had given away the locations of his enemies to the Nazis. But the thought that muggles and muggleborns were the downfall of the wizarding world had been rooted in the minds of wizards and witches.

"The second dark Lord Voldemort built his reign on the teachings of Grindelwald. He used an existing scapegoat, muggles and muggleborns and gathered his own group of loyal followers, the so called death eaters. Those followers hid their identity by wearing black cloaks and frightening white masks."

Here the professor waved his wand to the wall and the beginning of a death eater raid was shown. Many of the students' faces were pale seeing it.

"Nobody knew who they really were; except for those closest to Voldemort. Witches and wizards were afraid who they could trust anymore. What if their neighbor was with Voldemort? The strategy the death eaters used is a classical guerilla tactic. Hit in places that'll hurt the community, create chaos and fear and disappear before the law enforcers come for you. It was a hit and run strategy in the beginning. It got so bad that the people feared even speaking the chosen nom de guerre of the dark Lord and they began calling him 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'.

"This behavior only helped Voldemort to strengthen his hold over Britain. The Ministry was busy enough trying to keep the things happening from the muggles to really do anything useful against the terrorists. A stroke of luck, it can't be described otherwise, was the downfall of Voldemort.

"While Grindelwald met the end of his power when Albus Dumbledore defeated him in a duel in 1945, Voldemort was defeated by an infant, Harry Potter, who was after this named 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'. Nobody really knows how he was able to do it or if it was something his parents managed to do before they died. Probably we will never find out as the only one who could tell us what happened was only fifteen months old at the time. But before Voldemort was defeated, he was winning his war. It would have been a matter of time until he would have taken over Britain.

"You may ask why. Well, imagine the following scenario: There is a really powerful wizard and has a group of followers that he controls through greed, fanaticism and fear. This group isn't even that big, from what has been found out after Voldemort's fall he only had about twenty members of his inner circle his most devoted followers, and about two hundred in the outer circle. They were up against a population of about fifty thousand. Now normally no dark Lord would be able to win against such odds. But he nearly did. His followers as well as he were ruthless. They used the three unforgivable curses, the Imperius, Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra every chance they got.

"By the time the war reached its climax the normal wizards and witches were so frightened that they ran instead of standing up against the attackers. It didn't help that important members of society agreed with Voldemort's point of view. They supported him in the ambition to make purebloods rule their society and acknowledge their superiority over muggleborns, halfbloods and of course muggles. Fear leads to stupidity. While you may be able to explain things to a single person if you have time and are in a secure environment the person will be able to see reason.

"But under pressure the true personality of a person shows. Either they rise through the problem and come out stronger for it or they break. And if a group is put under pressure it is only a question of time until the weakest of them will break and the others follow.

"A big problem was that the government did nothing to organize the resistance against Voldemort properly. In the beginning they didn't even realize that there was a problem, as many of the purebloods were a vital part of the government and thought Voldemort was the solution to the supposed problem of muggleborns in their society. They got a bad wake up call. When they finally realized that Voldemort was the main problem he had sown the seed of doubt and fear in the hearts of the population.

"He operated from the shadows. He blackmailed who he could and killed who wouldn't be blackmailed. Many of his opponents were members of the pureblood high society. This was when most people finally saw the true colors of their supposed savior. But the breaking into hysteria of the masses was what he was aiming at.

"This is not only the case in wizarding societies, it is the same with muggles. I tell you this as I believe that wizards and muggles aren't that different. Only we have magic and muggles don't. And because most muggles don't understand magic they tend to fear it. Like the wizards fear those magical beings they can't understand, which leads us back to the goblin wars.

"The biggest battles, where open hostility between wizards and goblins led to massive losses on both sides, were only partly covered up to the muggles. They suspected something and they reacted with overall tension. It was one of the reasons the open warfare eventually ended. Both sides had too much to lose if the muggles found out about everything."

The professor covered important facts, discussed the reasons behind the battles with his students, gave the most important historical dates and names and opened a discussion what could have been done differently and what lessons the modern wizarding community could learn from the past.

Sirius saw that Harry was entranced by the lesson. He followed the discussion with rapt attention and seemed to want being part of the discussion held about the topic. The lesson flew by and the students were given their homework. Sirius signaled Harry that it was time to leave.

* * *

They emerged from the pensieve and Harry was thrilled.

"That was a brilliant lesson, Sirius. I never learned so much about the goblin wars or the wars against Grindelwald and Voldemort before. And they didn't use the ridiculous names people use here for Voldemort. It was fascinating when he used the animations to point out important facts. It was so interesting. I never knew both sides of the goblin war reasons, well I only knew those parts that Hermione insisted to literally punch in Ron's and my heads for the exams, but now I can way better understand why there are still tensions between wizards and goblins." Harry raved.

"I'm glad you liked the lesson. I was impressed myself by it. It is a very good way to learn. I think I really will invest into the company producing this. It will be very profitable in the future." Sirius said.

"You're right. Uhm, Sirius I thought of something while listening to the lesson. How many wizards do you think are able to speak Gobbledygook?" Harry asked.

"A good question, Harry, I'm afraid I can't answer it. But I think very few compared to the numbers of wizards in Britain." Sirius answered.

"Do you speak it?" Harry wanted to know.

"Yes I do, one of the things I had to learn as the heir to a pureblooded family. It was common back in my childhood as most Lords were concerned about being cheated by the goblins if they weren't able to understand them. Most never bothered with really speaking Gobbledygook with the goblins as they regarded them beneath themselves. I did and I can tell you they appreciated my efforts. It's one of many reasons they regard me as a friend." Sirius informed Harry.

"Do you think you could teach me?" Harry asked.

"I'm pleased you want to learn it but what are your reasons?" Sirius wanted to know.

"Well, most of the conflicts between wizards and goblins are big misunderstandings and could be prevented if they were moderated properly by those who are able to look beyond traditions and old grudges. I figured that I wanted to do something for the goblins as it were them who gave me back the freedom of controlling how I live my life. They managed to transfer the soul piece from my body and freed me of Voldemort's shadow. And they undid the blocks Dumbledore placed upon me. The least I can do is trying to understand them and their culture better. And I will only properly be able to do so if I speak their language." Harry stated.

"Your parents would be very proud of you, Harry. I can tell you I am." Harry beamed at the praise. "I will gladly teach you Gobbledygook. But it will take some time to learn it. We have to focus our first few lessons before you have to return to school to get you fit in pureblood customs, etiquette, proper mannerisms and attitude. The earlier you can make allies the better." Sirius promised.

"Yes, the more people get to know me properly, the less are going to believe nasty rumors about me the next time they are going to come up." Harry said.

"Exactly. Now the first thing for you to learn is, don't be afraid of who you are. You are Harry James Potter, heir to an old pure blood family. You can't change this, you might as well just accept the fact. Unfortunately you are also the so called Boy-Who-Lived. So you have double the public attention focused on you. They expect a certain behavior from you. They want to see you as the savior of the wizarding world. Give them what they want to see. But more important, control what you let them see. It is impossible to avoid public attention but you can choose which one you want to have if you are cunning. An example. When you were visiting Diagon Alley with Hagrid the first time, what happened?" Sirius asked.

"Well, as soon as Hagrid had told them that he was helping me getting school supplies, the attention of all the people in the Leaky cauldron was directed at me and I felt completely overwhelmed. I didn't know how I should react or why they reacted that way, why they were happy to see me." Harry answered.

"What do you think they saw in you that day?" Sirius asked. He had to get Harry's analytical mind to work. An ability was only as good as it was trained to be used.

Harry thought thoroughly about this.

"They might have seen a little boy who was feeling out of place. And yet they saw their savior. A bit shy, but polite." Harry replied.

"That seems like an accurate description. As you told me, the reasons for that were your complete ignorance of the wizarding world as you were never told before that very day that magic existed and you were a wizard. Something they didn't know. Nothing was leaked out to the public where you were living the last ten years. For all they knew you would have been placed with trusted allies of Dumbledore and raised to live up to your parentage and fame. There is a conflict in perception. They might have accepted your behavior as being unused to crowds if you were raised isolated to protect you. But this will change." Sirius warned Harry.

"You mean the older I get, the more they will expect me to know anything I should have learned like all the other wizard raised children?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry. It is not fair but this is public expectation we are dealing with. There will be people out to catch you off guard just to get a good story. The prime example for a ruthless reporter is Rita Skeeter. She doesn't know any restrictions and isn't shy to write complete lies to get a flashy story." Sirius said, having read the articles of the blond witch thoroughly.

"So I should avoid her?" Harry suggested.

"No, there is a saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer and also the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Get as much information on people who could get dangerous for you and gather as much information about them as you can. Then use it as blackmail material but subtly. Let them feel that you have their fate in their hands but show them that you don't abuse your power. As hard as it sounds. You have to treat even those you dislike fairly to be respected and be different than Dumbledore and Voldemort." Sirius explained.

"But how can I get information about them?" Harry asked.

"It will come with time. And I think there might be Aunt Cassiopeia's infamous black book somewhere here. She had dirt on so many people. It was her meaning in life to get blackmail on all the important people. You have to know the Blacks never had to really attack openly. With the fortune of many centuries and their ruthlessness they managed it without casting flashy spells. Not that they couldn't do those. There will be plenty of opportunity to observe others and get impressions of them when you make your trip to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies. By the way, which additional subjects did you choose to take this year?" Sirius wanted to know.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Divination." Harry answered.

"We will have to change that. You will drop Divination. The subject is useless. There are only two possibilities, either you are a seer or you are not. And we know for certain that you are not. Add to this that it is the most unreliable branch of magic there is and you get the picture. Even if someone is gifted as a seer, there is nothing they can teach you about it at school."

"Hm, I guess this makes sense. I mostly chose my new subjects to be together with Ron. So if the subject was crap I wouldn't be alone there." Harry said.

"A nice thought, but it would be a waste of your time to try to learn something you simply can't learn. If you were raised in the wizarding world it would have been important to take Muggle Studies, but you know more about muggles than about wizards so this would be pointless. Especially with their outdated teaching materials. Believe me if I say they are more than thirty years behind the time. I think you would do quite well in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. They have lots of practical uses and open you more ways in your career perspectives."

"Which electives did you choose, Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. You have to know that we marauders had a brilliant plan to cover all our bases. We didn't want to miss upon possibly useful knowledge for our pranks, I have to admit that was main part of our interests. While we took our education serious, we always thought how we could use what we learned to think up new fantastic pranks. So we decided to split up to have at least one of us in each subject. James took Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, Remus Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy and Peter took Divination and Muggle Studies. We shared what we learned and came up with some wicked pranks." Sirius told Harry fondly.

The next hour Sirius spent explaining to Harry what the different subjects included and what uses they had in everyday life.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall sat in her office at Hogwarts. She was really worried about Harry. So worried she had interrupted her holidays to help in the search parties that were send all over Britain to find a clue where he could be. Now of all times Albus had to go to the ICW meeting. She regretted to not have been more persistent to not leave Harry with his relatives. It had only been a question of time until he cracked. The constant mistreatment by them would let the most controlled wizard loose his cool and Harry was just thirteen years old. Lily and James must roll in their graves knowing how they had let their son down.

If only she could find a clue where Harry could be. As if her wishes had been heard, a very familiar snowy owl descended from the sky to her window. She quickly opened the window. If this was Harry's owl, he could be in trouble and in need of help. The owl soared in and landed at her desk.

Minerva was sure this was Hedwig. She held out her leg for Minerva to untie the letter attached to it. She opened the letter with trembling hands. She was relieved that the situation seemingly wasn't a problem to Harry as Hedwig seemed relaxed. If Harry was in danger she would behave differently. She began reading.

* * *

Dear Professor McGonagall,

_I hope you are well and I am sorry to interrupt your holidays. During my own holidays, which until the day I left my so called relatives were completely unpleasant, I have had the opportunity to do more research on my newly elected subjects. As I found out, Divination is a subject you simply can't learn without having the gift of being a seer. I know I am not gifted._

_Therefore I wanted to change my electives for the upcoming term. I wish to drop Divination and take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy instead. As a reliable source told me, there are a lot more career perspectives with those two subjects then there are with Divination. As I don't want to waste my time with a subject I can't learn, I hope you can understand me._

_I also read all the articles published in the Daily Prophet until today and I have to tell you I am disappointed. They all talk about how worried they are about me being in danger while Sirius Black is running free. Really, he can't be worse than Voldemort himself and I had to fight him twice during the last two years. I'm almost afraid to think what horror I will have to face this year at the supposedly safest place in Britain, according to Hagrid's words when he took me to Diagon Alley on my birthday two years ago._

Minerva stopped reading for a moment. Hagrid had taken Harry there? She always thought Albus had shown Harry everything and told him about the wizarding world. That was the reason why she had agreed to not be the one to tell Harry about his place at Hogwarts.

_As it is, I am rather confused about their behavior. Why do they speak now? They haven't bothered to check on me for all of the ten years I was kept in the dark about my heritage. There is obviously an organization that looks after magical children and if they grow up properly. Well, I can definitely tell you they would have been outraged how my aunt, uncle and cousin treated me; but nothing ever happened. _

_I read in the Prophet that Minister Fudge doesn't want to punish me for the accidental outburst of magic, but I don't know if I can trust the Ministry. They have never done anything to help me before and I even got an official warning because a house elf, who tried to stop me from returning to Hogwarts last year, used a hovering charm and I was blamed for it. I haven't experienced fairness in this world yet._

_All of the wizarding community celebrates me as their savior from Voldemort but they never thought about my well-being while growing up? Has anybody ever thought of checking if there was lasting damage from the killing curse I survived? I know nobody has checked my scar while I was aware of it. Well don't bother with it, I found help and the results were not pleasant. By the way, this letter is enchanted so you can't tell others the things I wrote about besides my changes of subjects. Don't take it personal Professor but I can't trust anybody at the moment._

_I will visit Diagon Alley on August 29__th __to get my supplies. You are free to come too. But be sure, I won't even consider going back to the Dursleys next summer. The Ministry and Dumbledore can whine as much as they want, I don't care. I have had enough of being treated like a slave, being imprisoned in my so called home and having to listen to my abusive relatives. _

_That place had never been home to me and will never be. So everybody can just keep their opinions for themselves if they think they have anything to say in my life from now on. Sorry for the rant but I had to get this out. I have a safe place to stay at where I am wanted for the first time since my parents died. You can't imagine what this means to me and I won't allow anybody to take this happiness from me. _

Minerva could. She had to smile at the thought of Harry being in a loving environment.

_As I found out with the help of the goblins they aren't even my blood relatives. My mother was adopted by my grandparents. She was a pureblooded witch from the house of Boldon._

This was a shock to Minerva. The Boldon family? Lily was the lost heiress of the most influential family in European wizarding economy? And now it was Harry? It was clear he had been at Gringotts to find this out. It was extremely clever making sure the recipient of the letter was unable to speak about this, but why did he tell her at all? Did he need her support?

_Please give the booklist for my new subjects, if it is possible to change them, to Hedwig she knows where to find me. Don't bother putting a tracking charm on her, it would be lifted the moment she passed the wards keeping the place I am staying at safe. Ah, I almost forgot, could you add one of the pamphlets muggleborn students get before they enter Hogwarts to the letter, please? I never got one and I am sick of being kept in the dark about the magical world. Everyone knows more about my life than I do and I intend to change this._

_Yours sincerely _

_Harry James Potter_

_Heir of the noble and most ancient houses of Potter, Boldon, Peverell, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw_

* * *

"Oh my god!" Minerva gasped. "Harry is the heir of two of the founders of Hogwarts? How could we not have been informed of this? How could he not have been informed of this? And why did Albus place him with the muggles if there wasn't any blood relation?"

She paled rapidly. The argument Albus had used to make her stop arguing over Harry's living arrangements had been that his mother left him a powerful protection in her blood and that Harry only was safe where his mother's blood lived, in other words her sister. Without the blood protection Harry was completely defenseless there except for whatever additional precautions Albus might have put in place.

She would stand at Harry's side in this. There was no reason torturing him anymore with living there if there was no benefit in it. She should really send the Wizarding Children Service on the case. Those muggles deserved it. She took her quill and wrote an answer for Harry. It was time for her to help the boy.

She needed to get him to trust her. Oh yes she could understand that he had trust issues. It was just the consequent conclusion of everything that had been happening. His horrible childhood was due to Albus Dumbledore, a wizard of high standing placing him in the worst possible environment growing up. Then he had been denied crucial information to find into the world he had been born into and being punished for things he hadn't done was certainly not helping. It was so wrong that the sensors alarming the Ministry of underage magic weren't able to distinguish between the users.

* * *

Dear Mr. Potter,

_I was pleased to hear from you. I was worried you would have gotten yourself in a dangerous situation again. I know you don't do it intentionally, but allow me to say you seem to attract trouble._

_The change of subjects from Divination to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes will be arranged for you and I have included the requested booklist. I was shocked to learn, that you were never properly instructed to the particularities of the wizarding world. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask me. Until now I was under the impression that you had been given all the information muggleborn children are given and had been informed about your position as an heir to a noble house by the headmaster. _

_Due to your position in the wizarding world as heir of one of the oldest houses it would have been his duty to tell you everything you needed to know. Not only as headmaster of Hogwarts but also as head of the Wizengamot._

_I will support you in your decision to never return to those terrible muggles you had to grow up with. I was against this decision, but I trusted Professor Dumbledore to know what he was doing. I was told that by dying for you, your mother left you with a powerful blood protection that warded the place where her blood lived on, in other words her sister Petunia. But with her being adopted this place won't be safe for you any longer and I am glad that nothing ever happened to you there._

_I look forward to seeing you for the new term. Please be vigilant and don't try hunting down Sirius Black. I am sure you have read the newspaper articles that said he betrayed your parents, but he is a fully grown wizard. You don't stand a chance against him yet. Please don't endanger your life needlessly. _

_I won't tell anybody about your letter, not even the wish to change your subjects. I think you have your reasons for staying hidden and I believe you deserve the happiness you seemingly found. If you are ready to talk about it, I would be pleased to listen to your story._

_Yours sincerely  
__Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress  
__Head of Gryffindor House_

* * *

She was satisfied with her letter. It would take time for Harry to trust her again, but it would be possible. The only thing left was training more in occlumency. With Albus being as accomplished as a legilimens as he was, she had to guard her secrets well. She wasn't at Severus' level, but she was quite capable.

She turned to Hedwig to tie her reply to her leg.

"Have a safe flight, Hedwig. If you could speak I would tell you to tell Harry I will support him and do everything to gain his trust, but I think you probably can only show him, that I haven't done anything to expose his secrets." She told the owl.

Hedwig hooted and then she took flight. Soon Minerva was unable to see her anymore.


	10. Business

**Hello, it is Sunday, which means weekend.**

**Therefore my new update is due. (Little advantage of having lots of chapters prepared, you can steadily update ;))**

**Thanks to all my faithful readers for your reviews. And to answer one question I got, this story will cover the whole year, therefore Harry will soon return to Hogwarts but I need to prepare the stage, so to say.**

**Now disclaimer: You know the drill, it's all JKR's.**

**Have fun reading.**

* * *

**Business**

Sirius and Harry sat comfortably in the living room. They had just finished another lesson and Sirius thought it would be time for a break.

"Sirius?" Harry began.

"Yes Harry?"

"Don't you think we should start liven up the house somehow? I mean, you told me you always hated the dark and glumly place in your childhood. Why don't we begin renovating it, so we like it better? We could set up one room for the whole old portraits of your family so they can talk all they want with each other, but don't bother us all the time. It's kind of creepy how they observe me sometimes." Harry suggested.

"That's a good idea. Oh yes I love it. And I know just the room where we can put all the portraits. The room had been enlarged by my father before he died. I never found out what he wanted the room for, but now we can use it as you suggested. We will store all the things we don't want in our home there and only keep those we like." Sirius said grinning.

"What do we wait for? Let's get started." Harry said enthusiastically.

Sirius chuckled. He stood up from his armchair and led Harry to the soon to be storing room for his family reminders. Harry nodded looking at the room.

"They might even like it here if the lookout of the house is any indication." He commented.

Sirius snorted. Harry was right, the room was dark and decorated in the Slytherin colors.

They directly set to work. Sirius told Kreacher to sort all the items the Black family had collected over the centuries by types so that he could look over them to decide which parts of his family history he would take with him into his new life and which he would put in the outdated part in the large room. Kreacher was wary to move the things in the house, but as Sirius told him, he wasn't getting rid of the Black heirlooms, just reorganizing them, he helped them. Sirius thanked him by granting him to choose two items of all the things he sorted out to keep for himself.

Kreacher was overwhelmed by the generosity of his Master and got to work more eagerly.

Harry was moving one portrait after the other to the room, placing the portraits at the ground to wait until they had all of them in one place before putting them on the walls. The people in the paintings were protesting but they paid them no mind. It was their house now and they would decorate it their way of liking.

Sirius was unable to take down his mother's portrait in the entrance hall. Harry could tell by her shrieking that she was outraged about his behavior. Then it became quiet. Harry curious what Sirius had done to silence her, went to the entrance hall. He could still see Mrs. Black shrieking but didn't hear a sound.

"Silencing charm." Sirius explained grinning. Harry grinned back at him. This was funny.

"Did you find a possibility to remove the portrait, Sirius?" Harry asked.

"No, she seems to have put a permanent sticking charm on the back of her portrait, just to spite me." Sirius complained.

"Hm, would it help to carve out the wall a bit under the portrait? If the charm sticks it to the wall, it wouldn't help if we attacked the wall directly." Harry suggested.

Sirius was dumbstruck. That was simple and brilliant. He fondly ruffled Harry's hair.

"Great idea, Harry. Let me think which spell would be best, then I will get started. She will calm down, once she is with the other outdated family members."

* * *

Harry enjoyed his time with Sirius. They worked hard to shape Grimmauld Place into the home they wanted it to be, but it was so much fun. Sirius joked around with him, told him stories of his parents and their marauder's days and taught him new spells while working on the house. Kreacher made sure that they always had enough to drink and little snacks. Harry was happier than ever before in his life. And he wanted to stay like this. He sure missed his friends, but he had written letters, asking if they wanted to meet him at the 29th when he would be going to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies.

He had got a heated letter from Hermione who berated him for disappearing like he did. Boy was he glad that she didn't know how to write a howler yet, but she assured him that she could understand his desire to leave his horrible relatives. She wished he would have told an authority person where he went, so his safety was ensured. It was typically Hermione. But she didn't know all the facts. He remembered what it took persuading her that Snape was not unquestionable in their first year at school.

Ron just stated he was glad that Harry was well. He wanted to know how he managed escaping all the lookouts from the Ministry. He also told him, that he would like to meet him at Diagon Alley as he also had to go there to get some medicine for Scabbers. He wasn't that well since their return from Egypt. Harry frowned at the thought of the rat. He was the reason why he didn't have parents. He would make sure the bastard paid for his sins.

* * *

He was getting ready to take the new portkey to Gringotts. Sirius wanted him to meet with Snowcack again to go over his investments. It was also part of Harry's pureblood training. Harry thought it was wise being able to manage your own finances as there were many things that he could influence with the amount of wealth he had inherited. He had meditated over the things Sirius had told him what power pureblood families held. Meditation was another thing Sirius had suggested him to practice as it helped sorting through your thoughts. It was also part of learning occlumency. Which Sirius insisted for him to learn. Harry had to agree. He didn't want anybody being able to invade his mind. Least of all Dumbledore or Snape.

Harry was cautious with the amount of power he would one day have. He didn't want to turn into another Dumbledore, who used his power to manipulate others for his own goals. Alone the thought was disgusting. But he had the problem; he would have this power and he had to use it. He had spoken with Sirius about this problem and he had told him something very important. Magic or power had no aspect of light and dark in itself. The intention behind it was what made it light or dark magic. Most people believed blood magic to be dark arts, but a very powerful form of blood magic by his mother had saved Harry's life.

A simple _wingardium leviosa_ could make objects fly and was considered light magic. But if used in a certain way you could kill someone with it. Didn't Harry now the power of that specific spell? Magic was about intention and the world was not only black and white, but it had gray parts. Parts which allowed them to do what was necessary without being punished, but if certain people found out, they would be looked at suspiciously.

Another thing Harry had been thinking about was a muggle movie that he and Sirius had seen one evening at a cinema twenty minutes away from Grimmauld place. It was one of the family times the two had. They had seen Spiderman and the advice Ben Parker had given Peter was ringing in Harry's ears. 'From great power comes great responsibility.' Harry thought there had never been truer words been spoken.

Sirius stood next to him and counted down for the activation of the portkey. Harry felt the now more familiar pull and they were taken to Gringotts. His landing had improved since the last time. Soon they found themselves in the office of Snowcack.

"It's nice to meet you again, Harry, Sirius. I hope your recovery from the rituals has been without complications, Harry."

"Yes, thank you for your concern, Snowcack. I'm really grateful for all the help the goblins have given me. I feel better than I have ever felt before in my life. It's like breathing fresh air after being confined in a closed room for years."

"Good to hear that we were successful. Well, let's move to the reason you are here today. I have prepared one of our strongest glamour crystals for you, Sirius. Not even Alastor Moody will be able to identify you with his magical eye. Only goblin magic is able to penetrate it. Well and house elves can see through it, if they are bonded to you. It is part of the enchantment between Master and house elf." Snowcack explained.

Sirius nodded.

"Thank you, Snowcack. This will help me to stay hidden in plain sight and I can help Harry more openly. What do you suggest by which name I should go?" Sirius asked taking the crystal.

"It would have to be some name or title that is true. It wouldn't do if anybody could call you out for lying. Thankfully I have an easy solution for this. If you would take the inheritance test, we could see if you had other Lordships than the Black and you could go by one of them" Snowcack answered grinning slyly.

"I know why I like you goblins so much, you are just sly, intelligent bastards with a good sense of humor in you" Sirius said grinning at Snowcack.

If he spoke with other goblins like this, they would probably be irritated, but his and Snowcack's relation went back for years and they had built a mutual understanding of each other.

There were three major components for getting the goblins to help you. Respecting them, not taking anything for given and earning profit. Sirius combined these aspects perfectly. He was the head of one of the most wealthy families in Great Britain, had always treated the goblins with respect and his mind was so sly and tended to look at thing from an odd angle that he could keep up with Snowcack.

Sirius took the dagger to cut his hand, let seven drops of his blood fall into the potion and waited for the results to appear on the parchment. He was quite surprised when he found a new Lordship and two new vaults on the parchment.

"Blimey, how did I get those?" Sirius asked surprised.

* * *

**Inheritance Test of Sirius Orion Black**

**Inherited Lordships / Titles**

_Noble and most ancient house of Black_

_Noble and most ancient house of Rivermoor_

_Comte de Jarjais_

**Inherited Family vaults**

_Black family_

_Rivermoor family_

_De Jarjais family (France)_

_Charpéte family (France)_

_Thornston family _

_Wellington family (held by Binnings Bank USA)_

* * *

"Well it seems I had some family outside Britain that was higher ups" Sirius said.

"You could say that. The de Jarjais' were some of the most well liked nobles of France, even during the French Muggle Revolution. They always stood firm in their beliefs. They were the most trusted servants of the French kings, being a military family. But they also had strong ties to the common people. They listened to their problems and went out of their way to help and protect them. They lived the way the old noble houses were originally founded. A great sense of honor made them extremely popular. And they were good at hiding in the open. The church never even thought of accusing them of witchcraft" Snowcack explained.

"I see. And the best part is, nobody knows that I am related to them. It's a new Lordship. This is the thing I can use to build a good reputation. I will do my business under the title Comte de Jarjais and nobody besides the goblins will be any the wiser. We can concoct a story how I found Harry leaving his relatives and of course, recognizing him, offered to help him with his problems. I let him stay at my manor and was told his real story. This way I can apply for official guardianship of him. But we still want to do the blood adoption ceremony Snowcack. I asked Harry and he wants it too." Sirius said.

"Yes, I want nothing more than to become Sirius son. I want to have a real family" Harry confirmed quickly.

"Yes, this will work just fine. I believe in half a year you would have most of the magical society at your side if you do this right." Snowcack grinned.

Harry was the one grinning now.

"Oh we intend to make a big show on the 29th. Imagine, poor Harry Potter re-emerging from his self-inflicted hiding from his horrible muggle relatives. With the assurance from the Minister of Magic in the Prophet, believing the magical community will be helping him to escape them for good. Offering them a picture perfect pureblood heir, who has been mistreated in the past, they will fall over themselves to assist me. And by doing it on the 29th we assure that nobody would bother sending me somewhere else as Hogwarts will start on September 1st." Harry described.

"And then this extremely good looking pureblood Comte, who has moved to Britain just a few months ago shows up and, seeing the plight of young Harry, takes him under his wing, distracting them not to look too closely at Harry, it will after all take some time for him to be perfect in pureblood customs, but for the time being we can blame it on the trauma of what the muggles have done to him. I will make a good show of the concerned paternal figure Harry has sorely missed in his life so far. I bet Rita will have a field day. This kind of story is too good to pass even without lying her butt of." Sirius pointed out.

"You plan to use Rita Skeeter?" Snowcack asked surprised.

"Indeed. Normally any self-respecting wizard and witch knows that she writes a lot of bullshit, but people like gossip, the more the better and a heart breaking story about the Boy-Who-Lived will serve our interests. And Rita has already set the stage for us. All those uncomfortable articles for the Ministry and Dumbledore are helping us along with our goals nicely. As long as people think they know what is going on with Harry and sympathize with him they won't ask the deeper questions that can't be answered right now. The Comte de Jarjais, who will attract the public interest, is the obvious answer how Harry managed to disappear without them being able to find him." Sirius explained.

"Yes I see, give them a piece of the truth, cloth it in many layers of glamour and the hint of a secret and they will stop proper investigations. How come you weren't sorted into Slytherin with a devious mind like yours Sirius?" Snowcack asked.

"I threatened the Sorting Hat that I would make his life a hell, if he put me with the arrogant pricks, he chuckled and told me he admired my balls to threaten an imprint of Godric Gryffindor's mind and put me into Gryffindor." Sirius told him.

"I never knew that the hat was an imprint of Gryffindor himself." Harry said surprised.

"Well, not only him, the other three poured their wishes into the personality of the hat too, but he mostly is Gryffindor's imprint. I don't know if any other student ever was sorted into a house because he wished to be there after me." Sirius said.

"Yes, I was" Harry admitted. "I was totally scared when I heard we would be sorted and was afraid that I wouldn't be put into any house and send back to the Dursleys. The hat told me, that I had several qualities. I had just made friends with Ron on the train and he told me that most dark wizards had come from Slytherin. I saw Malfoy being sorted there and only wished to be somewhere else. I didn't care which house, as long as it wasn't Slytherin."

Sirius smiled. He could relate to this.

"But he really considered sorting me into Slytherin, you don't know how relieved I was to be sorted into Gryffindor in the end."

"Oh but I do. To be honest, everybody has some qualities of all the houses, they are just not as pronounced as those that represent the house you are sorted into." Sirius explained.

"I see you two are somewhat alike." Snowcack said.

He then pulled out a parchment with the exact list of Harry's belongings.

"This is the original list that isn't to leave Gringotts, Harry. I think you will find yourself surprised with it." He handed Harry the parchment and Harry began to read with Sirius looking over his shoulder.

* * *

**Total account of Harry James Potter**

**_Liquid holdings_**

_Potter trust vault (automatically refilling each 31__st__ July to 50.000 galleons)  
Potter family vault  
24.987.580 galleons, 472.165 sickles, 39.706 knuts_

_Boldon family vault  
344.501.733 galleons, 567.012 sickles, 67.987 knuts_

_Peverell family vault  
203.507 galleons, 45.678 sickles 3.567 knuts_

_Gryffindor family vault  
508.903.100 galleons_

_Ravenclaw family vault  
1.989.034 galleons, 300.731 sickles_

_Romanov family vault  
4.544.876 galleons, 345.723 sickles, 12 knuts_

_Mannoy family vault  
3.000.003 galleons_

_Juneur family vault  
no liquid holdings_

_Stuart family vault  
134.765 galleons, 15 sickles_

**_Non liquid holdings_**

_Potter trust vault  
Potter family vault  
Jewelry (rubies, diamonds, emeralds, chains, rings, bracelets) total worth 366.023 galleons  
Family portraits total amount 3  
magical artifacts total amount 23_

_Boldon family vault  
_Jewelry (rubies, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires) total worth 5.366.023. galleons

_Peverell family vault  
no items_

_Gryffindor family vault  
sword (current location headmaster office Hogwarts)  
wands total amount 2_

_Ravenclaw family vault  
diadem (horcrux) current location Hogwarts room of requirement  
books total amount 1.265_

_Romanov family vault  
books total amount 368_

_Mannoy family vault  
no items_

_Juneur family vault  
magical artifacts total amount 44  
muggle artifacts total amount 234_

_Stuart family vault  
no items_

**_Investments_**

**_Wizarding / magical companies (cumulated from all families)_**

_12 % Flourish and Blotts  
__3 % Florean Fortesque Ice cream parlor  
__49 % The Quibbler  
__75 % Daily Prophet  
__34 % Arabian carpet industries  
__6% Magimagus Inc.  
__25 % Madam Malkins  
__35% Honeydukes  
__89% St. Mungo's  
__76 % WWN  
__4% Eylops owl emporium  
__7 % Olivander's  
__100 % Boldon enterprise  
__100 % Juneur Potions  
__100 % Juneur Wizarding Technologies  
__40 % Romanov Healing equipment_

**_Muggle companies_**

_23 % Microsoft  
__37 % Hugo Boss  
__49 % Grunnings  
__3 % McDonalds  
__17 % Chanel  
__9 % Tokyo TV  
__51 % Nike  
__72 % Royal Bank of Scotland  
__5 % Nintendo_

**_Real estates_**

_Potter Manor, Wales, Great Britain  
__Boldon Mansion, Camarque, France  
__Apartment No.4, 23 Lexington Avenue, New York, USA  
__Mansion, Bordeaux, France  
__Chateau de la Lune, France (vineyard included)  
__City Palais, Salzburg, Austria  
__Mansion, Los Angeles, USA  
__Traditional Japanese house, Kyoto, Japan  
__Cottage, Atlantic Ocean coast, Spain  
__Mansion, Appestat, South Africa_

* * *

Harry just couldn't believe it. He was stinking rich. Even richer than he thought what would be possible. What the hell should he do with so much money? This was more he could ever spend in one life. And he had several estates he could choose to live in.

"Oh my god." He managed to bring out.

"You can say this, Harry. If this ever gets out, you won't be safe from so called business partners who want you to invest in their companies. Or witches who want to marry you for your wealth. We should get you something to protect you against love potions" Sirius pondered.

"Well, at least we know you will never run out of money. This amount would suffice to bring a twenty headed family through without having problems for all their lives and their children's lives as well" Sirius commented.

Harry reread the statement again. Then he read a certain word he and Sirius had discussed a lot in the past days.

"Sirius, I own a horcrux of Voldemort. He made Ravenclaw's diadem one and it is currently at Hogwarts" Harry said solemnly.

Sirius just nodded.

"Well, then we know what you will do during the year despite learning. You will look for the hiding place of the horcrux. At least we know what it is, it would have been way harder to find out where and what it was at the same time if we only knew that it was somewhere at Hogwarts. By the way Snowcack, could we borrow one of your horcrux destroying experts? I have a horcrux at home that Regulus managed to steal from Voldemort. It has to be destroyed and I figured we should probably let experts do the job. You can take your fee from the Black family vault." Sirius asked.

"With pleasure. I will tell the department and let them set up a date." Snowcack confirmed.

"Thank you, Snowcack" Sirius said.

Harry became thoughtful, he looked at a certain investment he held.

"Snowcack, Sirius, does either of you know what kind of company Juneur Wizarding Technologies is? I have never heard of technology being used by wizards." Harry wondered.

"Well, it isn't really operating in Britain as many wizards frown upon anything that is related to muggle technologies. Estelle Juneur was a famous witch born in France about one hundred and twenty years ago. At the time she was an adult, the muggles had made some really impressive inventions to ease their lives. She was one of the few who made the effort to really learn the accomplishments of muggles.

"Soon she looked for ways to combine the best parts of magic and technology. The Wizarding Wireless Network was one of the first real results accepted in Britain. It would be impossible for wizards in Britain to live without the WWN today. It publishes news, music and dramas. It is common to everybody today if they have grown up in the wizarding world.

"With the results of her research selling really well, she quickly earned a lot of money. She reinvested it in her studies of combining muggle technologies and magic. It became one of the biggest companies in Europe." Snowcack summarized.

Harry had a wicked grin.

"What are you thinking about? You have that marauder look on your face. Every time your father had this look on his face a very ingenious prank was planned." Sirius said.

"I told you about the Weasleys right?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded.

"Ron's dad, Arthur Weasley, is working for the Ministry in the Department for Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. They pay him really bad if what I have seen at the Burrow is any indication. The Weasleys have readily taken me in last summer after Ron, Fred and George had rescued me from the prison the Dursleys made my room into. They would never accept any help in the form of money just given to them, their pride wouldn't allow it, but if Juneur Wizarding Technologies would contact Mr. Weasley, based on what they heard of his liking for muggle technology, he would be excited.

"He likes nothing more than to learn about muggles and their inventions. If he was offered a well-paid job there, the Weasleys wouldn't have so many problems with money and would keep their pride. If what you told me about the prejudices in the Ministry is right, then I suspect they have placed Mr. Weasley on a low paid job on purpose. The Weasleys don't behave like your typical pureblood family. They are a lot more warm-hearted. And I want to repay their kindness towards me." Harry told them.

Both the others were surprised about Harry's thoughts. Sirius realized that Harry was probably right about Mr. Weasley's placing at the Ministry.

"Well, one more job for the Comte de Jarjais to be done." He commented only to be hugged by Harry.

"Thank you, Sirius." Harry thanked him happily.

"It's no problem, kiddo. I would really like to meet the people who have been so nice to you even if they have enough trouble of getting along their selves." Sirius replied smiling.

They spent another two hours with discussing a new investment strategy for Harry and Sirius

* * *

**And another chapter finished. I hope you liked it. Until next weekend.**


	11. Meeting at Diagon Alley

**Happy Easter!**

**Here the new chapter for the weekend. By the way, I also have a second Harry Potter story posted especially for Easter. It's a two shot called 'The Witches Conspiracy'. You are invited to check it out. ;)**

**I thank everybody for the great reviews I got since the last chapter. This chapter is about the visit to Diagon Alley. So the story is nearing the time for the adoption and the return to Hogwarts.**

**Now the necessary formalities: I solemly swear that JKR owns HP and is up to no good.**

**Well nothing left to say but enjoy reading.**

* * *

**Meeting at Diagon Alley**

Harry was looking at himself in the full-body mirror in his room. It was August 29th and the great show would start in half an hour, when they would enter Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron. They had chosen this day not only because it was so close to the start of term at Hogwarts but also as it was the last day of the ICW meeting Dumbledore was attending, so that would make it impossible for the old coot to interfere with their plans.

He was excited. This would be a great prank to play at all those stuck up wizards that thought they could mess with others. He had learned all about pureblood customs he could in the short time Sirius and he had been together. He had relearned to use his spells from the first two years. It helped immensely that the wards around # 12 Grimmauld Place prevented the Ministry from finding out he was using magic outside of school.

He even found all his subjects came really easily to him this time around. He soon had mastered all his spells again and this time he understood the theory behind them. He could understand now why Hermione insisted on understanding the stuff so much. It made a huge difference. But with his blocks he had been unable to see that. He also read some of Sirius' old schoolbooks to prepare better for the new term. As he officially only got his school supplies today he couldn't really order some by owl. It would ruin the show they had planned.

He finally was satisfied with his looks and went down to meet Sirius. His look had significantly changed since he had arrived here a week after his birthday. He was missing his glasses as he didn't need them anymore. He wore black pants, a red long sleeved button up shirt and wizard robes in a very dark blue. They were styled to be open in the front, much like muggle trench coats. Harry really liked them. They fit him perfectly. Sirius had taught him about style and how important it was to make a good first impression.

Sirius' look was somewhat similar to his, only his pants and shirt were completely black with a silver robe. The robe bore the family crest of the noble and most ancient house of de Jarjais. Sirius hair was still its normal black. It was bound in a low pony tail. His eyes changed to blue and his beard was gone. His facial features were still handsome but nobody would recognize him as Sirius Black. He gave the full expression of a pureblood Lord.

"Ready Harry?" Sirius asked.

"As ready as I can be."

"Do you remember everything you have to tell when you will be cornered?"

"Of course. I ran away after my horrible relatives went too far, insulting my parents and treating me like dirt. I took my things after I lost control over my emotions after bottling everything up for weeks, trying my best not to go against the statute of secrecy. Then I tell them, how I got lost and you found me, struggling in a muggle town. You offered me your help and introduced yourself as the Comte de Jarjais. After living with you for some time in your safe house, you told me to call you Uncle Orion as you knew my parents from a vacation and became friends with them."

"Very good Harry. Well, let's get going, we have an audience to fool."

Harry laughed and took a handful of floo powder. He stepped in front of the fireplace and threw the powder into the flames which turned green immediately. He stepped into the flames.

"Leaky Cauldron." He clearly pronounced.

* * *

He spun around himself and arrived at his destination. This time he waited for the spinning to stop a bit before countering the spin with a slight turn in the opposite direction before stepping out of the fireplace, dusting some ash from his clothes. He had trained three days with Sirius at Grimmauld place flooing from the kitchen to the entrance hall and back to get a grip of the travel. He stood perfectly relaxed next to the fireplace when everybody in the pub began staring at him. Soon Sirius arrived. He cleared the ash from himself and Harry with a quick _scourgify_. Looking around he saw lots of wizards and witches coming over.

He raised his hand, stopping them from toppling over Harry.

"I know you have some questions about Harry's well-being, but be assured he is alright, as you all can see. We have business to attend today and we would like to get the supplies for Harry before nightfall."

"Mr. Potter, I am so glad to see you well. I'm Penny Hanbire and I am a healer at St. Mungo's. If you wouldn't mind, would it be a problem if I checked you for any health problems? We were all very worried about you when we heard about your disappearance especially in this dangerous time with a murderer running around free."

Harry donned his mask and smiled at her. This was better than they could have planned.

"Healer Hanbire, I really appreciate your concern for my well-being, but as my uncle said, we have a tight schedule today. While I have had really bad experiences during the first weeks during the summer holidays at the home of my so called relatives, after Uncle Orion found me, he made sure that I recovered just fine. A French healer, who is a personal friend of him, did a complete health check on me just a few days ago. Except for some malnutrition and signs of not getting enough to eat and too little sun, I am healthy. It has already been taken care of."

"This uncle is not the same one we read in the Prophet about?" A middle aged witch asked threateningly.

"Oh no, sweet Merlin no!" Harry interrupted. "I'm sorry I haven't properly introduced him. This is Orion de Jarjais, current Comte de Jarjais. He has only shown me the greatest kindness since he found me lost in a muggle city. I really hadn't planned what to do after I left the house of the Dursleys, the muggles I was staying with. It was a spontaneous act after they had gotten me past the point where I could control my emotions."

He looked down as if the memory bothered him. This act melted the hearts of the older witches present and called forward their mother instincts. The younger witches had stars in their eyes as if they wanted to be the ones to comfort Harry. Sirius used the opportunity to assuringly place his hand on Harry's shoulder, which made Harry look up gratefully. They had planned a gesture like that to make everybody see how comfortable Harry was around Sirius. Harry returned his look at the wizards and witches in front of him.

"You can't imagine how hard it was to keep my emotions inside without having anybody who liked me. I even had to send my beloved owl Hedwig to stay with friends trying to get Vernon Dursley, my muggle uncle, to sign my permission to visit Hogsmeade this year. His horrible sister Marge was visiting and she was not informed about magic. To add to my misery there, they told her lies about me being no better than a criminal. Those muggles hate everything connected with magic. The have called me a freak all my life. I was so glad to be able to escape them when I got my letter to Hogwarts, but every summer I had to return, being an orphan."

This outraged all the wizards and witches present. How could the hero of the wizarding world be forced to live like that? Who had been responsible for this scandal?

Sirius recognized a certain blond witch, using a green quill to take rapid notes. Step one was in action. Nobody could keep Rita quiet. This would be a nice article in the next issue of the Prophet. Now Harry continued to tell his part.

"I am really glad that Minister Fudge understands that it was all an accident. I was really concerned that they would send me to Azkaban. A friend of mine, he was really my first friend in the magical world and the first person to ever give me a birthday present on my eleventh birthday, has been sent there last year despite being innocent of the things that happened at Hogwarts last year. My friends and I managed to prove his innocence, but what he told of the place was terrible."

Many nodded at this. Azkaban was the stuff nightmares were made of.

"Harry, as much as I would like to stay and lay the concerns of these nice patrons to rest, we have to get going." Sirius said kindly.

"Of course Uncle Orion."

* * *

Harry and Sirius strode to the door that led to the wall that was the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Did she take the bait?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes you were great." Sirius answered equally quiet.

Harry tapped the bricks in the wall in the correct pattern and he and Sirius waited until the wall opened the entrance. They stepped into the Alley and were soon the center of attention. They ignored all the stares directed at Harry and walked with a confident posture and easy elegance that most people were impressed of. Oh yes, Sirius had taught Harry very well.

Sirius could hear several girls giggling and when he looked around as if he was looking for a certain shop he could see a lot of them were blushing. Well, Harry definitely was good looking and with clothes that really fit him well and the potions regimen he had been given by Charles Dupont to counter his health problems, he was what most young witches would call eye candy. Harry was oblivious to this. Well, he would get used to this kind of attention sooner or later.

Their first stop was Gringotts to keep appearance. They got some gold for both of them, making a good show in front of the wizards and witches around. It was really funny for Harry to see their faces faltering as he greeted Griphook in flawless Gobbledygook. He didn't really know much of the language yet, but he had learned some formal greeting phrases and basic vocabulary. It wasn't nearly enough to hold a conversation, but for the show effect they intended it was perfect. They left the audience gawking that the cold behaved goblins were even smiling at the famous Harry Potter just for speaking their language. Well it was more like he was their wealthiest client and respected them, but nobody needed to know that.

After the visit to Gringotts they entered Flourish and Blotts for Harry's new school books. He had to get the books for Defense against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. As Hagrid had already sent him the book required for Care of Magical Creatures, he made the employee very happy to not have to get one of them out of the cage they were kept in. Sirius also got Harry three additional books on practical defense, occlumency and battle Transfiguration. There was no doubt he wanted Harry to prepare for all eventualities.

The next stop was the apothecary to replenish Harry's stock of potion ingredients. Harry knew his real studies in the subject would take place on the weekends. Sirius had found a good way to get Harry from Hogwarts to Grimmauld Place and back. The Hogwarts wards let house elves through so Kreacher would take Harry to Grimmauld Place to continue his studies and bring him back when he was finished. It would ensure that Harry got away from school for some hours to go over his additional learning materials and give the two time to just talk. So Sirius got an advanced potion making kit and a book that taught the reactions of ingredients with each other, certain techniques to prepare the ingredients the right way and why you had to stir in one direction or the other for Harry too.

* * *

Finally Harry spotted the two people he wanted to meet most. Ron and Hermione sat in front of Florean Fortesque's ice cream parlor just getting their sundaes.

"Ron, Hermione!" He shouted and ran over to them.

They looked at him and their faces lit up.

"Harry!" They happily answered his call.

Hermione was the first to get up and hug Harry. Ron just put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Good to see you mate. We are really glad to see you well." He said.

"How could you just run away? That was so irresponsible. I can't be angry with you for wanting to get out of there, but you could have gone to an authority person to help you. With this criminal on the run, you could have been killed." She ranted.

Harry knew she had his best interests at heart but he thought that there would have been no chance at all that Dumbledore would have let him leave the place. No it was easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

"I'm really happy to see you two again. It was horrible at the Dursleys. More than usual. Vernon's sister Marge was visiting and it was pure torture, I can tell you. I tried to ignore her taunting by concentrating on the manual for the broom kit you gave me for my birthday Hermione, but it didn't work when she started insulting my parents. I lost it then and there. I'm glad I'm not in trouble with the Ministry right now. By the way thank you both for your birthday presents."

"You're welcome Harry. Uh, who is the man who accompanies you?" Hermione asked.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot, Hermione, Ron, I want you to meet Orion de Jarjais, current Comte de Jarjais and a sort of uncle to me, he knew my parents when they were younger. Uncle Orion, these are Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, my best friends."

"I'm pleased to meet you two. Harry has told me a lot of things about you. I'm glad he has such good friends as you two." Sirius said.

"Harry why don't you join your friends for some ice cream to catch up with them, I will meanwhile look for an owl. As Kendric has died of old age recently, I need a new one for my post. Here are some galleons, invite your friends to some sundaes, as I figure their old ones have melted already" he said looking at Ron's and Hermione's old sundaes melting in the August sun.

"Yes, thank you Uncle Orion." Harry answered smiling.

"You're welcome Harry. I will come back in an hour to fetch you. Have fun you three." He said, leaving them alone.

Ron was the first one to speak.

"Wow, who the hell is this guy?"

"Ron, I told you who he is." Harry said grinning.

"Yes you told us his name but how do you know him?"

"Well, he was the one who found me, when I was lost in the muggle world. While I know how to behave to not stand out there it is a bit difficult to do so while you are carrying a big trunk and a cage and are not able to shrink them due to the law against underage magic. I'm just glad Hedwig wasn't there or it would have been worse. Meeting him was a coincidence. While I was looking for a way not to be found by neither the muggle police nor the Ministry, I was really worried about being sent to Azkaban like they did with Hagrid last year, Uncle Orion spotted me and of course he identified me. Damn scar." Harry added at the end.

Hermione smile sympathetically while Ron just grinned.

"He approached me and introduced himself. I was suspicious at first, but after he told me he was a friend of my parents since they had met during a holiday shortly after they finished school and could prove it with some old wizarding photos, I believed him and followed him. He asked me why I would run away and I told him. I can tell you he was furious to hear it. He told me I could live with him from there on and call him Uncle. Believe me if I say his house is great. It is hidden with so many magical wards it is probably nearly as safe as Hogwarts or Gringotts. And the best part is, he has applied for guardianship over me. If the officials agree, I will never have to return to the Dursleys. I can finally have a real family."

"Oh Harry, that's wonderful." Hermione said.

"Yes, congratulations mate." Ron said looking a bit jealous for Harry having a rich uncle.

But he soon settled for being happy for his friend finally getting out of that place. After all he had been there to rescue Harry last year with the twins' help. And he had gotten a glimpse of Vernon Dursley trying to prevent Harry's escape.

* * *

Nobody but Harry recognized the small beetle sitting in a bush, but he dismissed the thought. He was happy that his best friends were happy for him.

"How is your uncle's house and where do you live?" Ron asked.

"Well, I'm sorry I can't tell you yet where the house is, Uncle Orion said this information is strictly confidential to keep the security. I can only tell, when he allows it. But the house is great. It has four floors and is really big. Well, probably you can await this as Uncle Orion is a Comte. We are currently renovating it with the help of our old house elf. The house has been empty for many years and there were some uninvited house guests we had to kick out."

"House guests?" Hermione asked.

"Doxies, boggarts, big spiders..." He counted on his hands "...things like that. It was really interesting to see how Uncle Orion dealt with a boggart. I have heard that was normally something we would learn in our third year. Well, depending on our teacher of course. I just hope Dumbledore has found a competent DADA teacher this year or I fear we will never be really prepared if we were attacked."

"Do you really think we will have to fight in the future?" Ron asked.

"Do you remember what happened the last two years at school?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"First year we get proof Voldemort is still alive somewhere out there and has possessed Quirrell to help him get a body back. If he had been successful in stealing the philosopher's stone, we would have him at our backs just now."

Both nodded.

"Second year we have the problem of his damned diary possessing Ginny, tricking her to do his bidding. He set loose a basilisk on the school for the second time in his life and tried to kill muggleborn students but thankfully failed to succeed as only petrifications happened. He nearly came back. His form became more and more solid while sucking the life out of Ginny. Then I was bitten by the basilisk and his fang broke from his mouth. I wouldn't even be alive if Fawkes hadn't been there. Basilisk poison only has one antidote. Phoenix tears. I instinctively used the fang to stab the diary to stop him. I'm lucky it worked. So, what are the chances he will eventually find a way to come back? I want to be prepared when this day comes. I don't intend to be a victim and he will come after me."

"You are right Harry. I also hope to have a good teacher in each subject. I'm especially curious about the new subjects."

Harry saw a big bag with lots of books in it.

"I don't understand how you think you could do all those subjects at the same time." Ron said.

"I mean, do you plan to eat and sleep at all this year?"

"I will manage it. I don't want to miss an important subject. As I am muggleborn, I have to learn more about the wizarding world then you who was born into it." She argued.

Harry hated it, but she was right. To have any chance at a good job later on, she would have to excel far beyond her pureblood peers.

"I still say you are barmy. Nobody can manage to do all those subjects, but it is your decision. But if you are going insane with your work load, don't tell me I didn't warn you Hermione. Good thing Harry and I only chose two subjects, right Harry?" Ron asked.

"Well, I now have three new subjects Ron. After I met Uncle Orion and I told him which subjects I chose to take this year, he advised me that Divination is a subject you can't learn from books or a teacher. You either have the gift of a seer or you don't. And none of my ancestors has ever had it. So I don't have it. Why should I try to learn something I can't learn? So after he told me what the other subjects were about and what you could do with them later in life, something nobody really bothered doing for any of us last year, I chose to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy instead. I figure I will still manage it. And it is really interesting what you can do with the things you learn there.

"Runes are a core part in wards and Arithmancy is really useful to analyze spells and find counters. Even Potions are based on arithmantic calculations and with Snape hating me, it would be great to just calculate a potion how it should be done and show him up by doing it right. In regard of Voldemort being after me, I figured it would be good to know those things. And they are requested in some really awesome jobs I read about. I don't know what I want to do in the future, but this way I have more options."

Ron again flinched at the name and seemed a bit put out at the prospect of not being with his best friend in Divination but he couldn't argue with Harry's arguments.

"Why do you suddenly think so much about the future?" Ron asked.

"Last year was an eye-opener for me Ron. Justin, Collin, Hermione and Penelope were all petrified. Ginny nearly died. I don't want to lose people who are close to me. We don't know what kind of nasty things Voldemort is planning. But he is always coming after me for some odd reason. The only thing we can do is learn as much as we can to be ready when he tries again to return. But I don't intend to move into the library if you fear that. I will spend a lot of time at the Quidditch pitch at least." He said grinning.

Ron also grinned while Hermione looked a bit miffed. She knew this side-jab was directed at her liking for books. But she knew Harry didn't mean it hurtful so she took it in stride.

They finished their sundaes and Harry paid for them.

"Where do you want to go?" Harry asked.

"I want to get some medicine for Scabbers. He is a bit under the weather since we returned from Egypt. I want to see if they have something at the Magical Menagerie."

Harry had to control his emotions. If he only could get the damn traitor, but it wouldn't do if he acted now. He needed a witness who was absolutely trustworthy in the eyes of the public. He and Sirius had pondered who would be best to give this role. The best options would be Filius Flitwick or Minerva McGonagall. Dumbledore would also have the reputation but he wasn't to be trusted with something that important. He could find a way around it so that Sirius wouldn't gain his freedom.

"I also want to go to the Magical Menagerie. My parents gave me some money as it is my birthday in September and I should get me an early birthday present."

"What you don't want to get a good book?" Ron teased.

"No, I really want an owl. I mean Harry has Hedwig and you have Errol."

"No I don't have, he is a family owl, all I have is Scabbers. And as I said he is ill. Let's go."

* * *

The three went on to the shop where lots of different animals were offered to be sold. The space to move was restricted as there were cages everywhere. Ron went to the counter and spoke with the witch about Scabbers' problems. He was given some rat tonic as he didn't want a replacement for Scabbers. Then he was suddenly attacked by a really big cat. The witch shouted for the cat to stop it and Scabbers ran out of the shop.

Harry helped Ron to find Scabbers. While he quite liked the idea of the traitor being eaten by a cat, he needed him to prove Sirius' innocence. They found him nearly ten minutes later under a wastepaper bin. When they returned they found that Hermione had bought the cat that had jumped onto Ron to get Scabbers. Even now it fixated the lump in Ron's chest pocket while purring in Hermione's arms.

Ron and Hermione had a longer argument about her choice of a pet. Ron was disgruntled as Crookshanks, the cat had nearly scalped him, Hermione found the cat was gorgeous. Harry decided not to interfere with the two arguing. Privately he thought any cat that disliked the traitor was alright. While Hermione gave Ron the rat tonic he forgot in the shop, Harry tried to get his thoughts away from the prospect of the traitor becoming cat food. It was so tempting.

* * *

**That's it for this week. As always I appreciate reviews.**

**Mischief managed.**


	12. Minister's Madness

**One week gone, it is Sunday and this means my weekly update :D**

**For all those who have asked me about the blood adoption, it is coming up and will happen in two chapters. I just need to prepare other parts of the story for upcoming events in this chapter and the next. It will happen before he goes to Hogwarts.**

**Thanks for all the reviews. I really like reading them all.**

**Now the official part: I own nothing.**

**With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.**

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**Minister's madness**

Amelia Bones sat in her office reading the old reports about the capture of Sirius Black. It really irked her how easily all the people in positions of power had dismissed Black as the culprit and decided to send him to Azkaban without a trial. Admittedly he had seemed like the one who betrayed the Potters but there had been no proof that he really did it, except for Dumbledore's word that he was their secret keeper. But the incident with Pettigrew and the muggles was never really investigated. It all was based on assumptions.

No eye witnesses were heard. The muggles who had seen anything were obliviated before taking their statements. This was ridiculous. An incident like that should have been thoroughly checked if there were other parties involved. Sometimes she asked herself if the methods of the aurors were sufficient. And Crouch should have known not to ignore the law, but then again he had done that permanently in those days. He had done it to get control back, to stop the death eaters. Really questionable methods had been authorized.

Some aurors had become as ruthless as the death eaters. No it wasn't a time to look back upon with pride. As an ex-auror herself she knew the death eaters couldn't be stopped with normal methods but to stoop so low using unforgivables? No never had she done it and the best auror of the time, Alastor Moody also didn't need them.

But she would need allies to even get the trial to take place. If it got started, they could prove Black's innocence. Then suddenly a co-worker from the department of magical maintenance stormed into her office.

"Amelia, Harry Potter has turned up in Diagon Alley. Bradley from the Department of Magical Games and Sports has seen him when he was at Quality for Quidditch."

"That's good news. How did he look? Was something wrong with him Gabriel?"

"No, he seemed fine from what Bradley told me. A healer of St. Mungo's offered him to do a health check, when he and his companion arrived at the Leaky Cauldron via the Floo network. He politely declined telling his uncle had already seen to it that he was checked by a friend of this uncle who was a healer." The Wizard was reporting.

"His uncle? As far as I know he only has these muggle relatives who hate magic. I can't imagine they would know a healer. And more let him evaluate Harry's health." Amelia doubted.

"No not the muggle idiot, Harry called the man a Comte de something. I don't really know the name as I wasn't there. But they seemed to get along really well."

"Well these probably are good news. Does Minister Fudge know?" She asked.

"I think Bradley went to tell him. Do you think he will go there?"

"Probably but I don't know if the two of them will still be there when he arrives. At least we have one problem less. If Harry Potter is well and will go to Hogwarts on the 1st September we have more possibilities to find Black."

Another wizard stormed into Amelia's office.

"Amelia, Fudge is going insane. He has signed an order for dementors being stationed at the entrances to Hogwarts" he shouted.

"He did what? I will go up immediately. How could he put these foul creatures around a school?"

* * *

She stood up of her chair and hurried to the elevators. When she arrived at the 1st floor she stormed into Fudge's office to find him startled at her behavior.

"Have you gone completely insane Cornelius?" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Amelia what are you speaking about?" Fudge asked startled.

"Dementors at Hogwarts. That is what I am speaking about. They are some of the foulest things ever to walk the earth. How could you place those things that suck the life out of powerful wizards around children who are not even aware how to defend against a dementor?"

"Amelia, I'm just doing what is right for the safety of Harry Potter. As you know from my visiting report of Azkaban that Black was obsessed in his dreams with and I quote literally "He is at Hogwarts". How could I not ensure the safety of Mr. Potter and the other students when a mass murderer is on the loose?"

"You call this safety? I would have agreed with you full heartedly if you had ordered the department of magical wards to check on all the wards at Hogwarts to ensure there were no loopholes where he could slip in. If you had ordered a dozen aurors to do guard duties around the school even better, but I protest on behalf of the students that these things are let near the school."

"You are overreacting Amelia." Fudge said.

"I am overreacting? You are completely out of bounds. The only place where dementors are allowed at all times is Azkaban. A place where the most evil wizards are imprisoned. And most of them deserve their stay there. But I have also noticed that you are only looking for what the public says Cornelius. Last year you sent the gamekeeper of Hogwarts there on suspicions alone. Turned out he was innocent. You didn't even check the evidence. And why? Because he is an easy target. Beware of echo of your actions. What do you think will happen if Harry Potter decides to speak about the things that happen at Hogwarts? Who will the public believe? Him or you? Do you want the boy as your enemy?"

"Why would the boy do something like that?" Fudge asked.

"Oh I don't know, perhaps because the man you sent to Azkaban last year is a personal friend of him?" Bradley, who had listened to the shouting of Amelia really amused pointed out.

"When he and his uncle Orion were at the Leaky cauldron, he told all the people that he was afraid the Ministry would send him to Azkaban because of what happened to Hagrid the gamekeeper last year. Turned out that Hagrid was the first real friend in the magical world Harry made and he got his first birthday present from him. It also were Harry Potter and his friends who found the true culprit. Do you think he will take it kindly if you send the prison guards to his school when he is obviously relieved to not have had to meet them?"

"My decision stays." Fudge stubbornly stated.

Both the Ministry workers glared at him.

"I will make sure the public will get to know who was responsible for this decision Cornelius. If there are any accidents with the dementors I will move heaven and hell to punish those responsible for it. And I won't stay quiet. I will tell everybody the truth and you know very well that I am known for telling things as they are, not as the Ministry likes them to be seen." Amelia promised and left the office slamming the door behind her.

"You have made an unnecessary enemy Minister. If you go on like this, many more will follow." Bradley said and followed Amelia but without a slamming door.

Amelia knew what she had to do. Her destination was Diagon Alley in the hope to meet Harry Potter to warn him to stay out of the way of the dementors. Fudge had died for her. He wasn't a suitable Minister in her eyes. If he was set on placing dementors around a school she would do everything she could to stop the worst from happening. And that was Harry Potter going after Sirius Black without knowing the truth.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the Leaky Cauldron to meet with Ron's parents. Harry had agreed that his uncle would turn up there sooner or later anyway so he would spend a bit of time with the Weasleys. He got a big surprise when he saw Sirius talking with Mr. Weasley, sitting together at a table, some bottles between them, Mrs. Weasley sitting next to them, sometimes shaking her head.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly shouted.

Every head turned towards him. She came over to them and hugged Harry.

"Harry dear, we were so concerned about your disappearing when we returned to Britain. How could you do something so reckless?"

"I couldn't stand staying at the Dursleys' any longer Mrs. Weasley. I had to get out of there and after I accidentally blew up Aunt Marge I completely lost it. She tortured me for the whole week she was staying there. But the final straw was her insulting my parents. I just exploded. I tried to put up with everything she threw at me because Uncle Vernon said he would sign my Hogsmeade form if I behaved like a muggle all the time. And she liked nothing better than ridiculing me and comparing me to my good for nothing bully of a cousin. I couldn't even stay out of her way."

"That's over now Harry dear. We already met your uncle Orion and he told us how he came to take you in. I'm glad that you found him and that he wants to take care of you. A much better choice than those muggles."

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley and I'm sorry to have made you worry for me." Harry answered smiling.

"It's okay. Know that you are always welcome at the Burrow." Harry nodded relieved.

* * *

Sirius agreed to have lunch with the Weasleys at the Leaky Cauldron before everybody parted their ways. Sirius took an instant liking to the twins and asked them about their pranks at school. He found some of them really entertaining. After lunch Harry bid his friends and the other Weasleys goodbye and he and Sirius went to the Floo out of the Leaky Cauldron. Shortly before they could go, somebody called for Harry.

"Mr. Potter, do you have a moment?" A witch called.

Harry turned to see a witch with short gray hair and a monocle in her eye.

"How can I help you Madam?" He asked.

"My name is Amelia Bones and I am the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. I wanted to speak to you privately if this would be possible."

"Excuse me Madam Bones. Harry is under my protection at the moment, so I would like to participate in this meeting." Sirius said with a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Excuse me sir, would it be a problem to introduce yourself?" She asked.

"Of course, how impolite of me. My name is Orion de Jarjais, current Comte de Jarjais. I have been the one who found young Harry when he was wandering in some muggle city. I happened to know his parents Lily and James from a holiday and we became friends and had contact with each other via owl post until they went into hiding from Voldemort."

Amelia flinched slightly.

"Are you still afraid of hearing his name? A witch of your standing and power?" Sirius asked.

"Old habits die hard I fear." She answered.

"That's true."

"Well, I suppose if Harry agrees you can stay during the meeting." She said. Harry immediately nodded.

She asked Tom the innkeeper for a private room and he let them use one of the free rooms. They went to the first floor and sat down on some armchairs which Sirius conjured with his wand.

"What did you want to talk with me about Madam Bones?" Harry asked.

His whole appearance screamed pureblood to her, but she knew he was raised by muggles. So how could he have taken the attitude in the short time he had been missing? Another riddle to solve. Perhaps Susan could help her out, she was in his year, even if she was in Hufflepuff and he in Gryffindor.

"While I would very much like to learn where you have been staying, I know that for safety reasons some things are better kept secret. You will probably have read the articles about the escaped prisoner of Azkaban Sirius Black."

"Indeed. I also read he was supposedly a close friend of my parents and that he betrayed them." Harry answered not giving away anything at his face.

"You don't seem very touched by this? How comes? I would have thought you would like to see the man responsible for the deaths of your parents punished."

"I do, but I have learned something that makes me doubt the truth of Sirius Black being the traitor."

She now mustered his face closer. He was perfectly collected. He must have received at least basic training in emotional control, perhaps even started learning occlumency. Another riddle. The boy brought up too many of them for her liking.

"Would you tell me what kind of source you have for this assumption? I am currently reinvestigating the case as I find it unbearable to have the Ministry be open for any attack because of a flaw in the law enforcement. I personally dislike being open to attacks. Nasty memories from the war, you understand?"

Harry liked the woman in front of him. Direct but still sneaky. And a good sense of justice. The goblins were right to send Sirius memories to her.

"Would you believe me, that I have been to Diagon Alley before today this summer?" He asked.

"How would you have managed this? You are still underage so all magic you do would be spotted by the Ministry and we have lots of people looking out for you and Sirius Black."

"I had some business to do with the goblins. They provided me with a portkey. Imagine my surprise when I found out, that I have been denied crucial information for two years."

"What do you mean? What have you not been told?"

"Do you know the pamphlets muggleborn children receive when they are visited by one of the heads of houses after they get the Hogwarts letter? Well, I never got one of those. I was never told which books would be important for me to read. I was kept in the dark about the most basic laws of the magical world. As Uncle Orion told me, the witch or wizard who was supposed to explain things about the magical world I was born into, would have taken care of that. And that is only the part every muggleborn receives. I am the heir of an old pureblood house and have responsibilities in this world I hadn't even known about until Uncle Orion told me about them. I never was visited by the head of a house, my guide was Hagrid, the gamekeeper who also had the job to get the Flamels' philosophers stone from Gringotts to protect it."

Amelia was dumbfounded. What had Dumbledore been thinking to let a man like Hagrid who was no doubt nice enough but hardly up to the challenge to introduce somebody like Harry Potter into the wizarding world?

"While I really like Hagrid and liked the tour of Diagon Alley he gave me, I have learned that he was the wrong person to tell me about things that distinguish muggles and wizards and certain laws I would have to follow. I suppose Hagrid thought my so called relatives had told me about me being a wizard. He was terribly wrong. They hate magic with a passion and made my life with them living hell. I'm really surprised that none of the muggle children institutions looked into the matter, because some of my teachers would have seen that I was abused. Physically only my cousin was involved, but emotionally they all were. You can tell Minister Fudge that I will never return there and that I officially ask for a real investigation in the matter."

Harry's eyes were hard at this, but she could see pain in his green eyes. This boy truly had suffered. Not for the first time she cursed in her mind. Why did all the authorities concerning Harry Potter's well-being have to be ignorant idiots? She dreaded his reaction when she told him about the dementors that would have to be expected at Hogwarts.

"Well,..." Harry continued "...not only did I find out about this, but the goblins had a copy of my parent's will. I read with my own eyes that they had named a man called Peter Pettigrew their secret keeper. After asking Snowcack, the goblin who was attending the meeting on behalf of Gringotts, what the term secret keeper meant, I was told that it is a term connected to the Fidelius charm. The person a secret is hidden in. Only the secret keeper is able to reveal the secret to others.

"I ask you, why hasn't this man been brought to justice if my parent's will was proof enough? Why was my godfather Sirius Black, who was supposed to take care of me, sent to Azkaban if it was known that he was innocent? Why did everybody ignore the clearly stated will of my parents that I was under no circumstances to live with the supposed relatives of my mother? There were two witnesses to the last will of my parents. Lord Ironfork of the goblins and Professor Dumbledore.

"My mother was only adopted into that family. Whatever crap Dumbledore has told everybody is nonsense, as there is no blood relation. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't know this piece of information, but he bloody well knew that Sirius Black was innocent. I suspect the whole incident of Black murdering the muggles was somehow staked. After learning about my parents will, I also investigated the list of possible guardians for me in case of their deaths.

"Fist was my godfather Sirius Black, second Alice and Frank Longbottom, my friend Neville Longbottom's parents, third was Remus Lupin, fourth Andromeda and Ted Tonks, fifth were the Weasleys. My best friend's family could have taken me in. Do you know how hard it is telling you that, remembering myself that you are not at fault and it would be wrong to yell at you because I would really like to yell at the one responsible for the hell of a childhood I had.

"Growing up with no friends at all because they were afraid of my cousin. They feared if they befriended me, they would become targets of his gang like me. Being called a freak every day. Having to live in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years when my whale of a cousin had two rooms for himself and they had a big guestroom too. Only getting enough food that they wouldn't be called upon it by the neighbors. Having to wear my cousin's way to big clothes.

"And now that I am going to Hogwarts, the things they do to me have only gotten worse. After that damn warning last year, when a house elf levitated a pudding at their home during an important business dinner, they found out that I can't do magic during the summer. They put bars at my window and installed a cat flap in the door to feed me. I was held prisoner at my supposed home until the Weasley twins and my best friend Ron rescued me.

"They told the whole neighborhood, that I go to a school for incurably criminal boys and want me to pretend that this is the truth. Do you know how I feel?"

Amelia was shocked. Never would she have suspected something like this happening to this boy. The savior of the wizarding world. The one responsible for You-Know-Who's fall. How could Dumbledore do something like that? He was supposed to be the good one. But he had condemned Harry to a living hell. What were his reasons? She would find this out. She was the one in the best position for it. She promised herself. Harry would receive justice.

"I'm really sorry Harry. I didn't have a clue that you were forced to live such a horrible life. I fully understand why you ran away. I will do everything in my power to prove your godfather's innocence. I have also received evidence that could prove his innocence but the Minister is a pompous fool who only cares about the public response of things. He fears the Ministry would look bad if they admitted a mistake. But there is more. He decided sending dementors to guard Hogwarts this year so they will protect you from Sirius Black."

"What?" Sirius shouted. "How could he? Those things suck all the happiness out of a person and let them dwell only on their worst memories. They also affect their surroundings. The students will fall ill if they are in their range too long. Not even the seventh years are able to defend themselves. Patroni are far too advanced magic to be really taught at Hogwarts. They are stuff aurors learn in their training." Sirius ranted.

Harry blanched. He hadn't experienced the feeling a dementor gave you personally yet but it was an experience he wanted to avoid as long as he could. He began shivering.

Sirius saw the signs of some sort of panic attack and quickly sank to a knee in front of Harry.

"Harry, look at me. Look in my eyes." He commanded.

Harry didn't but began babbling.

"Why? Why can't I have a normal year at Hogwarts? Just learning stuff, have fun with my friends, compete for the Quidditch cup? I want to be normal. Why are they doing this to me? Wasn't taking my abilities from me for years enough? Wasn't making me live in misery in my childhood enough? Why do they have to torture me again?" Tears began streaming from Harry's eyes. Sirius pulled him into a hug and let him cry.

Amelia wanted to kill Fudge. What did the boy mean by taking away his abilities? She had to do something. But what? Then a thought hit her. Augusta Longbottom. She could be the political powerhouse she needed. The Lady of Longbottom house had a good head on her shoulders and was an intimidating person. Additionally Minerva McGonagall, oh yes that would do nicely. Who else could support her? Arthur Weasley would help, but was seen as a shame for a pureblood wizard due to his love for muggles and had no political standing. But he was father of five children at Hogwarts age. That would count.

Marcus Greengrass perhaps. He was a well-known pureblood wizard and his oldest daughter Daphne was Harry's age and attended Hogwarts. Wasn't the younger one Astoria starting this year too? Amos Diggory would help, a fellow Hufflepuff through and through. His son Cedric was also at Hogwarts. Nothing better than enraged parents to get Cornelius of his rocker. She also needed public outrage. Oh yes she had just the reporter for this.

"I will need some time, at the moment there is little I can do. Cornelius is too stubborn to move from his position if he thinks it will let him look good in the public opinion. I have to get some serious political backing to get him see reason. If there was an incident at Hogwarts where the dementors attacked a student it wouldn't be a problem at all, but I don't want to let it get there. As I told you the Minister changes his colors with the wind. If there was enough protest from the general public, he would cave in. When I have the backing I need, would you also support me to get rid of those foul things?" She asked.

Sirius nodded. He was interested what she had planned. But if anybody was willing to openly oppose the Minister he wouldn't miss it for the world.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was surprised when Amelia Bones came out of her fireplace in her office at Hogwarts.

"Amelia, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Cornelius being an ignorant, self-pompous fool of the worst kind. He has signed an order to place dementors around Hogwarts to keep Harry Potter safe. Problem, Harry is terrified of the thought of being in the company of dementors, especially after what happened to Hagrid last year."

"Has Cornelius gone insane? Just because one man managed to escape Azkaban he can't transform the school into a similar place. Albus would never let this happen. Even if he is a bit weird lastly, never would he allow this."

"I doubt he could do anything to change Cornelius mind, I intend to put Cornelius under public outrage. I already have Rita Skeeter at my call. She even promised to let her poison quill at home to get this story. My next stops are Longbottom manor to get Augusta on the case, the Burrow to get Arthur and Molly Weasley on board, Diggory's house and Greengrass manor. Do you have any ideas who I could also ask? I already have organized to have Comte de Jarjais, Harry's current guardian of sorts to help with this as soon as the support for this is irresistible."

"Harry's new guardian is a noble?" Minerva asked surprised.

"Yes I was surprised myself. A very nice and well-mannered man. He already taught Harry some pureblood manners. Before the topic went to his relatives he was really calm and collected. I intend to prevent to let him ever return there Minerva. We have failed Harry terribly. If James and Lily were to see what has happened to their son, they would rotate in their graves. He was abused Minerva. Physically by his so called cousin and mentally by his aunt and uncle. He told me some things today." Amelia let her head drop.

"I should have done more. I should have persuaded Albus to not place the boy with these muggles. I was there when he left Harry at their doorstep. I knew they were the worst kind of muggles as I observed them the whole day, but Albus insisted that Harry would only there be completely safe because of the blood wards Lily conjured with her sacrifice. Only where her blood lived the protection would be."

"And Petunia Dursley is no blood relative of Lily. Lily was adopted. Harry told me today."

"Yes, I found out some days ago, when he sent me a letter asking to change his choice for new subjects from Divination to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I can't really talk about it, the letter was enchanted. I want to help him. I have the duty as his head of house to look out for him like all my little lions."

"There is more. I don't think we should tell Dumbledore any secrets. He is responsible for sending Sirius Black to Azkaban while the man is innocent. I have proof but I need to get the real traitor, Peter Pettigrew to get the trial for Sirius. Otherwise Cornelius will just wing it away as fantasies."

"Sirius is innocent? How did you find out?" Minerva asked.

"Memories were sent to me anonymously via Gringotts. I suspect they are his. They are authentic, I checked it twice. The secret keeper of Lily and James was Peter Pettigrew. After Hagrid took Harry away from Sirius, Sirius went after Peter to punish him for his betrayal. Peter blasted the alley away, killing the muggles, called Sirius a traitor and cut his own finger. Then he transformed into a rat and disappeared into the gutters.

"The second piece of evidence I got today from Harry. In his parents will, the goblins obviously have a copy of it, even if the Ministry sealed the original, is stated that Pettigrew was the secret keeper for Lily and James. And Dumbledore signed as witness."

"No, why would he do something like that? Sirius was in the order. He was fighting at our side. If he knew the true traitor, why did he send the wrong man into Azkaban?"

"I don't know yet but I intend to find out. As chief warlock of the Wizengamot he is obliged to uphold the law, not sending innocents to Azkaban. While I know Barty Crouch is massively to blame for this mess, Dumbledore just had to say a word and nothing of this mess would have happened. Even the muggles would laugh at us and if the Queen ever found out about this, I don't want to think about the consequences."

"Yes, she really is aware of our world, right?" Minerva asked.

"How could she not? Once in a while there appears a wizard or witch from the royal family. They all have enough magic for some passive abilities like seeing dementors or a sixth sense for danger. The younger prince, Harry nearly has enough to be considered a wizard. He won't get a Hogwarts letter but it was a close one. The Spencers also had squibs in their ancestry. It was quite possible that a child of Prince Charles and Princess Diana could become a wizard. But thankfully it didn't happen. Imagine the public backlash if this got out."

"Thank you, I like my peace as long as I can get it. Well, I will be at your side in this. No way will I let the students be in the presence of these monsters any longer than unavoidable."

"Thank you Minerva. Cornelius should be rightfully cowed if you turned up in his office. You have this don't mess with me aura around you. By the way, did you recognize something strange with Harry's abilities? When he had his nervous breakdown, he mentioned that somebody had taken his abilities away from him."

"No, well I always wondered a bit why he didn't show any special talents as his parents were really gifted in their personal areas. Lily was a genius at Charms and Potions, while James excelled at Transfiguration and defense. Harry is an average student. And sometimes he seems to really struggle to get the spells right."

"It would be good to further investigate this. I don't want to fail Lily's and James' son more than we already have."

"Neither do I Amelia. Until later then."

Amelia nodded and left through the fireplace.

* * *

**And a little cliffhanger. (insert evil laughter ;))**

**That's it for this week. Until next weekend.**


	13. A Shocking Discovery

**It's Sunday. That means update time.**

**First: I own nothing. (That's done!)**

**Second: The next chapter will be about the adoption.**

**Third: Thanks for all your reviews.**

**Fourth: Have fun with the chapter.**

* * *

**A shocking discovery**

Sirius had brought Harry to his room and placed him on the bed under the covers. After they had left the Leaky cauldron by side-along apparition, Sirius wanted to prevent public attention to Harry's breakdown for the time being, he immediately had called Kreacher to get a calming draught for Harry from the house apothecary and prepare some hot chocolate for later. Kreacher had disapparated and gotten back with the draught after some minutes.

Harry had just lain under the covers, mumbling over and over again 'why me'. Sirius wanted to go to the Minister and demolish his face for this. Pompous fool that the man was. Normal wizards had trouble to face dementors and Harry just got some major blows to his beliefs in the supposed leader of the light, Dumbledore. The breakdown was only the logical conclusion after all he had been trough.

Sirius carefully let Harry drink the calming draught. He coughed after the last gulp but Sirius could soon see the effects of the potion setting in. Harry's body relaxed and he was just shivering under his blankets.

"Master Sirius, may Kreacher lit a fire in the fireplace to help Master Harry warm up?" The house elf asked.

"Yes please do it Kreacher." Sirius answered thankfully for the elf's thoughtfulness.

Kreacher went to the fireplace and snapped his fingers. Immediately a fire lit up and warmth flooded the room.

"Thank you Kreacher." Sirius said.

"Would you please prepare some chicken soup for dinner after you brought us the hot chocolate?"

"Of course Master Sirius." He said, bowed and left the room.

* * *

Rita Skeeter was in high spirits. She had a great story from Harry Potter's visit today in Diagon Alley. She absolutely loved her animagus form. Being a beetle opened so many opportunities to spy on people to get juicy stories. This one she just had to spice up in some little points, it already was good in itself.

She let her quill write the article how Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived had been emotionally abused by his aunt and uncle, terrible examples of muggles, and physically abused by his cousin. What a story. And to top it, the untouchable Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore was the one to blame for all of this. Oh yes, the few bits of information Harry had given the audience at the Leaky Cauldron were great but the talk he had had with his two friends was even better. Being driven to lose control over your magic after you have been training to use it properly at Hogwarts for two years needed some serious emotional distress.

Of course she had also interviewed some of the old witches and wizards who had been at the Cauldron at the time, just perfect to get more dirt to throw at Dumbledore. She really loved her job. And now there could be a really big story at the horizon. Amelia Bones was on the warpath against the Minister for his plans to let Hogwarts be protected by dementors. She shuddered. Every self-preserving witch or wizard was worried about dementors. Thankfully she never had the displeasure to visit Azkaban, but the rumors alone we giving her goose bumps. No, the Minister had gone insane to order these things to guard a school.

* * *

Harry needed half an hour to get back to his senses. When he realized what had happened he was ashamed of himself. How could he have been such a baby? A breakdown and then in front of Sirius and Madam Bones. They must think he was a weakling. He looked to his side and saw Sirius sitting on a chair next to his bed.

"Hey Harry, are you feeling better?" He asked kindly.

Harry nodded but looked away ashamed.

"There is no reason to be ashamed Harry." Sirius assured him.

"But I broke down in front of you and Madam Bones. Just because she told us of the dementors."

"No, Harry. You didn't break down because of hearing about the dementors. You broke down because it was just the last blow you could take in a very short time. First you had to deal with the Dursleys in a more torturing way than the other years as you couldn't just avoid them for most of the time, then my reappearance."

"But that was the best thing that ever happened to me Sirius." Harry interrupted.

"I'm glad you think so..." Sirius said "...but nonetheless it was emotionally straining for you, even if it was positive stress. After this you found out, that your life had been manipulated for over ten years, that the last will of your parents had been ignored by Dumbledore and your abilities were mostly blocked. All because of one control freak that feared he couldn't make you see his way of believing without having you completely under his thump.

"Then last but not least the dementors who will guard Hogwarts for a while. Things that you know suck the happiness out of humans. How could you not be overwhelmed by all of this? You are thirteen Harry. Grown up wizards would have problems to take this in. And they wouldn't have been able to go through your life without getting insane."

"You don't think I'm weak?" Harry whispered but Sirius heard him.

He embraced Harry, who was surprised by this. He still had to get used to this kind of showing affection as he never got it as a child. But he wanted to keep this feeling. The feeling of being protected and not to be the one who protected. Just being able to rely on somebody who would help him with his problems.

"No Harry. You are strong and don't believe anybody who wants to tell you otherwise. Being afraid of the dementors is not a weakness, it is common sense. I am afraid of them too. The potions regime Charles ordered you to follow was not the only thing he took care of while he was here. He also checked my health, after all, you don't get out of Azkaban and are okay. Like you, I have to take potions to get over the malnutrition from my time there. I only sleep at night because I take dreamless sleep potion. Otherwise nightmares haunt me. I fully understand your fears."

Harry looked shocked. He hadn't realized that Sirius had those problems.

"Don't worry that you didn't notice my problems. I am really good at hiding them. And I wanted you to become comfortable around me before being confronted with my haunted past. And you are a major factor in me getting better every day. Being around you helps me remember for what I live. Not many could have shouldered your life. They can't even imagine what it means to have to grow up hatred because you are how you are. Not to be loved because you are different than the others. Ridiculed for the other, perfect child that lives in the same house." Sirius had a bitter tone in his voice.

"You also experienced it Sirius?" Harry asked surprised, still clinging to Sirius.

"Yes Harry. Especially after I was sorted into Gryffindor. It was the greatest shame for my parents, that their son, their heir, was a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin. I was always wary of the way my parents treated witches and wizards that were below their social standing. I never could believe what they thought was right. So the logical conclusion was my running away. I was always the one not fitting in unlike Regulus. At least my brother saw the error of his ways in the end, but I wish he didn't have to die for it."

"Yes, I think he would have been a great uncle." Harry said.

The full moon was approaching and it was the date when they would do the blood adoption ritual. The next day was the day Harry had been waiting for. He would finally have a real father, one who would care for him like his parents who had died to protect him, had done.

"Yes he would have been." Sirius said touched by Harry's willingness to become his son.

He was wondering how Moony would fare during the night of the full moon. He really hoped his old friend would be alright.

"But you have another kind of uncle, who will be delighted to see you again." He said.

"You mean Moony right?" Harry asked, using the nickname Sirius always used while speaking about his past adventures with the marauders.

"Yes. I'm wondering how he is doing. I wish I could keep him company during the full moon, it always helped calming him down."

"I also want to help. When I have mastered the animagus transformation fully I want to help too. You know my form is big enough to do so."

"Yes it is. I'm still surprised that you have a magical animal as your animagus form. That is really rare."

Sirius had given Harry the animagus revealing potion to find out which animal he was. To be an animagus would be a great advantage in his fight against Voldemort. Harry had found out that he was a storm-panther. He could bend the air to his will and unleash storms if he wanted to. Well, he would, when he had mastered the transformation and then got used to his new powers.

"It will take some time for you to master it but I think Moony will appreciate that you are willing to help him. I will have to find out where he is. I think he could be convinced of my innocence if I left him my memories in a pensieve without telling him what they show in the first place. He would be an invaluable ally. He was always the smart one of our group."

"I really want to meet him. You and he are the closest I have left of my family."

Sirius gently rubbed Harry's back, cursing the Dursleys again. Outside Harry was a teenager and very mature for his age, but inside there was a small boy who just wanted to be loved. He intended to give this boy all the love he needed to grow up to match his outer appearance. Tomorrow was full moon, the day of the blood adoption ritual. Harry would become his son. He just hoped Lily and James would have agreed to this. But as they named Sirius Harry's godfather, they wanted him to take care of Harry. If only he could ask them if they agreed with it. Well, that was impossible. Tomorrow they would go back to Gringotts with a portkey, inspect some of the artifacts left in the vaults Harry had inherited, he was really curious what they were, spend some time renovating the rest of Grimmauld place, they had already begun after stripping the house of all remembrances of dark artifacts, eat some of Kreacher's delicious cooking and wait till the moon rose to its highest point.

* * *

Harry woke up from a peaceful sleep. The calming draught he had gotten yesterday also helped him sleeping deeply. He was excited. Today was full moon. Today he would become Sirius' son. He couldn't wait until the moon rose. He was also curious what items his family vaults held. They knew there were several in the different vaults, but the statement only listed the general terms not the specifics. He got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, brush his teeth and get clothed. Kreacher had already placed some robes for him when he left the bathroom. He was really thankful for the elf's thoughtfulness while looking after his Masters.

He left his room and went down to the kitchen. There he coincidentally found Kreacher who seemed a bit out of breath.

"Good morning Kreacher." Harry said.

"Good morning Master Harry. Please take a seat, breakfast will be served immediately."

Kreacher whirled through the kitchen and soon Harry had a plate of bacon and eggs, some toast, a cup of milk and some fruit in front of him. Kreacher looked exhausted but content.

"Thank you Kreacher, it looks delicious. Please rest a bit, you look exhausted."

"I can't Master Harry, there is so much work to do in the house. Kreacher will make sure Master Harry and Master Sirius have the best home ever." The elf announced.

Now Harry knew why the elf looked this exhausted. He did so much work in the house and did it all alone. And he was old, he could really use some help. Then Harry was hit by an idea just the moment Sirius came into the kitchen.

"Morning Harry, morning Kreacher." He greeted and took a seat next to Harry.

"Morning Sirius." Harry greeted grinning.

"Spill it!" Sirius said, knowing this grin. It was a marauder's grin.

"Well I recognized that the poor Kreacher has too much work for him alone to finish. And he has served the Blacks so long that it would be unfair to just place all the work on his shoulders alone. So I thought we could get a second elf, that Kreacher could teach all about the service of our family." Harry carefully chose his words to not hurt Kreacher's feelings as the elf was proud to serve the noble and most ancient house of Black.

"That's not a bad idea. The Black family had always more than one elf, Kreacher is the last of those who have been serving the house faithfully for centuries. It was always one family. But as the family dwindled in numbers the magic that strengthens the house elves ceased in power. Especially after my imprisonment and my mother's death there was nobody who could have built up the magic resting in the house. Kreacher what do you think? Could you take another house elf under your wing and teach him the way the new house of Black is like?" Sirius asked the elf.

"Of course Master Sirius, it would be an honor to ensure the future generations of Blacks are having the best house elves to serve them." The elf looked proud to be chosen to have an apprentice.

"Well Harry, do you have an elf in mind?" Sirius asked.

"I have, perhaps he will answer my call. Dobby." Harry called. They waited for a few seconds and then a crack was heard in the kitchen.

Dobby stood in the kitchen, nervously looking around. Then he saw Harry and his face lit up.

"Harry Potter sir!" Dobby squeaked delighted.

"Hello Dobby. How are you?" Harry asked kindly.

"Dobby is fine sir. Thanks to Harry Potter sir, Dobby is now a free elf and doesn't have to serve dark masters any longer. Dobby is currently looking for a new family to work for. Dobby likes his freedom, but Dobby wants to serve and work for a new nice wizarding family."

"That's great news Dobby. Have you already found a new family?" Harry asked.

Dobby sadly shook his head.

"It's difficult Harry Potter sir. Not many would take an elf that has been given clothes and Dobby wants to be paid for his services."

"Well I think I know something for you." Sirius now said.

Dobby looked at Sirius.

"You is Sirius Black." He said.

"Yes I am. You don't seem to be afraid of me, Dobby." Sirius said kindly.

"No, Dobby knows you is innocent. Dobby heard his old Masters speak about it. Dobby's old Masters found it funny."

Then Dobby realized what he had said.

"Bad Dobby." he began calling himself and Harry reacted fast and stopped the elf from hurting himself.

"Don't punish yourself, they aren't your Masters anymore, Dobby." he pointed out.

"Dobby finds it difficult to say those things about his old Masters, especially as Dobby hasn't found a new Master yet. Dobby's magic is not as strong as it has been."

"I see, I have heard that an elf gets his strength from the Master he has himself bound to." Sirius said. "Well Dobby, Harry and I are looking for a second house elf who would learn from Kreacher, an elf who has served the Black family for decades now, the ways that the new Black family is following. Harry has suggested you. Would you be interested to make a bond with the house of Black and become Harry's and my elf?" Sirius asked.

"You is wanting to take Dobby as your house elf?" Dobby asked surprised.

"Yes I am. And I would like to tell you a few rules we have for our house elves." Sirius pointed at Kreacher.

"Kreacher here is the head elf as he has the most experience in the service of the house of Black. The new house of Black is a gray family. I don't like the hard borders between light and dark houses. There sometimes are things that have to be done that are not exactly light but also not dark. There are things that I would never do, killing innocents, mistreating other magical races out of principle, badmouthing others who don't deserve it.

"The house of Black will be at the front in the fight against Voldemort because he is the worst the wizarding society can face. A maniac who bastardized the old pureblood ways. You know about the Chamber of Secrets that has been opened last year at Hogwarts. I intend to explore it a bit with Harry this year. I suppose there could be invaluable things to find now that the basilisk is no more. And also Harry has a right to get the valuable items of the basilisk like his hide, the venom and other things. If he sold them, he could get a lot of money from it and get some favors with important people.

"Our elves will wear a customized uniform with the crest of the Black family on it. We don't want our family servants to go around in rags. You are to proudly show which family you serve. It is not like we give you clothes to get rid of you, it is a part of our new overall outlook. I know about the special powers of the house elves. You can apparate to locations others can't and are able to use your own strong magic to help your masters. We want to use your help to better prepare Harry for his unavoidable fight with Voldemort. As Dumbledore isn't to be trusted as he tried to control Harry, we have to build our own group that will fight against Voldemort when he returns.

"As much as I wanted that he didn't I am realistic enough to know he will return sooner or later. And he will be after Harry again because of a prophecy that was made before Harry was born. It says that Harry will be the one to defeat Voldemort for good. So he has to be trained to be able to survive this encounter. Further goals are the change of the wizarding society to be more liberal and to make the step into the present time. British wizards are far behind those of other countries and we intend to change that and get a better tolerance for other magical beings, halfbloods and muggleborns. What do you say Dobby?"

"Dobby would be honored to serve the house of Black Sirius Black sir, but why is you calling Harry Potter sir a Black?"

"Oh of course I forgot. I will blood adopt Harry tonight, when the full moon is at its highest point. At the moment I am Harry's godfather and we both want to become a real family so nobody has the power to force Harry to live with the horrible muggles again."

Dobby nodded.

"Dobby wants to serve Harry Potter and Sirius Black." He said.

"Then let us perform the ritual. I Lord Sirius Orion Black, take Dobby as my house elf for the noble and most ancient house of Black. So mote it be." Sirius spoke the ritual words and a bead of light engulfed Dobby.

Dobby smiled delighted.

"Dobby accepts the bond with the house of Black and promises to serve the house faithfully."

The light grew brighter and then it vanished. Dobby seemed to have gotten a power boost. He also wore the new uniform of the house of Black. Black pants, a dark red uniform jacket with the Black family crest at the back and dark red shoes.

"Thank you, Master Sirius, and thank you, Master Harry." Dobby said.

Kreacher approached Dobby.

"Kreacher thinks he will start your training as a Black elf right now, Dobby, with showing you around the house. Master Sirius and Master Harry have business to attend at Diagon Alley."

"Of course, Kreacher. Dobby wants to learn everything to serve his new Masters."

The two elves disapparated.

"Well, he is a nice elf, a bit different from your normal house elf but I like him. Good choice, Harry." Sirius said.

"Thanks, Sirius. I think we should take the portkey to Gringotts now, I want to see what items are in the vaults."

"Well then let's go. How was your breakfast?"

"Really good. I think I like oranges more than grapefruits. But fruits in general are nice to have with breakfast."

"I'm glad you like your new diet. Sometimes it's hard to change old eating habits. And I know what Hogwarts serves during the year."

Harry just smiled. It was still a new concept for him to have someone who took care that you ate properly.

* * *

They both touched the portkey and Sirius activated it by touching it with his wand. Soon they landed at the apparition point at Gringotts. Harry walked to the counter.

"I would like to visit my vault please." He asked in Gobbledygook earning a lot of surprised faces from goblins and other customers.

"Of course Mr. Potter. Griphook will take you there." The goblin answered.

Griphook who had listened to the conversation came over and mentioned Harry and Sirius to follow him.

"It's a pleasant surprise to see a wizard speaking goblin language." He said.

"I'm sorry, Griphook, I am not very advanced in Gobbledygook right now. I just understood 'pleasant surprise' and 'goblin language'." Harry admitted. "I have only learned for a bit over a week after the rituals that were done to rid me of the blocks and the horcrux."

"I see. I look forward to have a whole conversation with you, when you have learned more, Mr. Potter. But I have to say you are quite good with pronunciation for someone with only a week of practice."

"Thank you, Griphook and please call me Harry."

Griphook nodded.

"Which vault do you want to visit, Harry?" he asked.

"The Potter family vault please. Then the Ravenclaw vault and if we still have time after that the Gryffindor vault. It will take some time to visit them all. I think I will have to leave the school on weekends to get everything done." He mused.

Sirius smiled. It was clear that Harry was excited to learn more about his family and those he was related to. They entered the cart and traveled down to the deeper parts of Gringotts. Way deeper than Harry's trust vault. The only reason why Harry could go down there was that Sirius was his guardian. As he agreed to let Harry manage his accounts on his own with a bit of good advice, the goblins followed Harry's wishes for invests. Until he would get of age at seventeen this would be the way things would be done.

They finally reached the vault. Griphook opened the vault by placing his hand on the door and then it slowly opened.

"I will wait here for you. The old family vaults are special and goblins can only enter them with the permission of the Lord." Harry nodded.

Harry and Sirius went into the vault and were looking around.

"Wow." Was the only thing Harry could say.

The vault was huge filled with mountains of gold, silver and bronze. Several chests with jewels in them were lined at the walls. On shelves there were artifacts Harry couldn't really identify. They went deeper inside the vault. Suddenly Harry heard voices.

"Here." He heard someone calling.

"Did you hear that Sirius?" he asked.

Sirius was pale.

"Sirius?" Harry asked waving his hand in front of his face.

"Sorry Harry, yes I heard it. And I think I know the voices. Let's see if I am right."

They followed the voices until they were standing in front of three wizarding portraits. Harry was stopping where he stood. This was impossible. He had only seen some photos of them. But here they were in portraits that could speak.

"Mum, Dad?" He asked overwhelmed.

"Harry is that you?" James Potter asked.

Harry nodded. Sirius was as overwhelmed as Harry was.

"Prongs." He said.

"Hey, Padfoot old friend. Why in the nine circles of hell did it take you so long to bring our son here?" James wanted to know.

"I..." Sirius began but was interrupted by Lily.

"Harry, come here, I want to see you better" she said.

Harry did as she asked.

"Look at you. You have grown so much since we last saw you. How old are you now?" She asked.

"Thirteen, Mum." Harry answered tears shimmering in his eyes.

"So long. I'm so sorry that we couldn't be there for you. I wish we had chosen Sirius as the secret keeper but we were so sure Peter was trustworthy."

"I know Mum. It's just, I wish…" He couldn't continue. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

Sirius just put a hand on his shoulder.

"So, Padfoot, why did it take so long for you to come here? I would have thought, even if you were in hiding with Harry that you would have brought him here when he turned eleven." James asked.

"I couldn't, Prongs. I was in Azkaban at that time. Wormtail managed to blame his crimes on me and I wasn't given a trial. I still haven't had one and am hiding under a newly inherited title. Harry was sent to Petunia." He answered sneering while saying Wormtail's name.

"WHAT?" Thundered Lily.

"How could they? PETUNIA? I insisted on putting this part in the will that Harry was never to be sent there to grow up. How could they ignore our last will?" She yelled.

"Why were you sent to Azkaban? Dumbledore knew Peter was our secret keeper." James wanted to know.

"He wants to control me for some reason." Harry said trembling. "He blocked seven of my abilities partly or completely and placed a muggle enraging curse on me. Then there were potions that weakened my abilities. And to top all of that the scar I got when Voldemort's killing curse repelled of me, I became a horcrux. A part of his soul was put into me."

"Oh my god, Harry, my poor baby." Lily said.

"How could Dumbledore do this? I trusted him. I even let him borrow my invisibility cloak to help some weaker order members and for him to study it when we were in hiding. How could he do this to our son?" James was furious.

Harry felt sudden warmth spread through his body. His parents really cared for him. They really loved him.

"Padfoot, what are you going to do to prevent that Dumbledore will manipulate Harry's life again?" James asked.

"Yes, if he placed Harry with Petunia he will do everything to prevent you from raising him." Lily agreed.

"Well, Harry and I want to perform the blood adoption ritual tonight. It's full moon. If you would give us your blessings I would feel way better about it. I mean you are his parents and…" Again Lily interrupted him.

"Sirius, we named you Harry's godfather because we thought you were the best choice to raise him if something happened to us. I am pleased to see he means enough to you to adopt him and under the current circumstances I fully understand you have to use the ritual. Harry will always be our son, but I gladly give you my blessings to also become his parent."

"Lily is right. You are my best friend, Padfoot, more like a brother even. I am glad you want to adopt him. I also give you my blessings, but I have one request. Could you please get the portrait out of the vault and place it at your house? It's extremely boring inside. I mean the company couldn't be better but the scenery has palled."

Harry and Sirius looked relieved that Lily and James wanted them to do the ritual.

"I can understand that, Prongs. We will certainly take your portrait out of here. What about the other two?" He asked pointing at two portraits that had been covered.

"Let them stay here. They wanted to be moved here to rest. I personally brought the portraits here. They show some of my great-grandparents who had a really nasty argument with the other portraits at Potter Manor. They preferred to sleep here between the treasures than being at the manor."

"I see. Anything we should know about the artifacts?" Sirius asked.

"No, all of them are light artifacts. I will tell you more about them later." James said.

* * *

**That's it for this week. For all those who have read 'The Witches' Conspiracy' thanks to the numerous requests to continue the story I will write more chapters for it, it will just take some time as I am also working on some other story ideas I had.**


	14. Adoption and an Interesting Article

**Hello everybody. Thanks for all those great reviews. I am really happy to be over 370 with only 13 chapters of the story. That motivates me to continue writing. This chapter is a bit shorter, but next chapter is the return to Hogwarts.**

**As always I own nothing of the Potter verse. Have Fun.**

* * *

**Adoption and an interesting article**

Harry stood opposite of Sirius both holding a goblet filled with a potion the goblins had provided. The only thing Sirius had had to add were seven drops of his blood. Lily's and James portrait had been placed next to the place so they could see the ceremony.

"Are you ready Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Yes." Harry answered.

Sirius activated the runes he had drawn with a mixture of ink and his blood onto the stone floor. Over them the moon had reached his highest point.

"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, call upon the ancient magic of bonding for this holy ceremony." He intoned.

The runes flashed red. Sirius took the goblet.

"I take this boy, Harry James Potter as my lawful son under the ritual of blood adoption. He will become my flesh and blood and my heir. So mote it be."

Sirius drank three gulps of the potion and the runes flashed green. He gave Harry the goblet.

"I, Harry James Potter accept the blood adoption by Lord Sirius Orion Black. I will be his son in flesh and blood and will respect and love him as a son does his father. So mote it be."

Harry drank four gulps of the potion and the runes flashed blue. Then three lines of light erupted from the runes and circled around Harry and Sirius. Three minutes passed till the light ebbed away. Harry had slightly changed. His hair was still black but it didn't stand up in the way James' hair did anymore. It also had gotten a bit of silkiness and had grown a few inches longer. He had grown four inches and the signs of malnutrition had disappeared. While Harry still wasn't overly muscular he had gained a few pounds which cured the much too thin look he had had before. It was the weight the healer had deemed the least healthy weight for a boy Harry's age.

Harry swayed but Sirius supported him.

"Are you alright Harry?" Sirius asked.

"I think so, just a bit disorientated. Everything is spinning."

"Let's get inside so you can lie down. Your body has changed a bit so I think it is normal to feel a bit under the weather."

"Thank you." Harry mumbled are let himself be supported by Sirius to get to his room. His father he corrected himself, feeling warm at the thought.

Then he thought how he would call Sirius from now on. He called his father James Dad, it would be confusing to call Sirius the same, but what else could he call him? He would have to think about it. Calling him father would be way too formal for them.

* * *

Sirius sat in the living room, speaking with the portrait of James and Lily. He brought them up to date and it would have been the understatement of the century to say Lily was furious. Sirius was sure, if she would have been alive, she would have apparated to Hogwarts directly, stormed the castle and murdered Dumbledore the most painful way imaginable. Her curses were quite colorful and James and Sirius had cringed at some of her more inventive torture ideas for Dumbledore.

James was also livid with Dumbledore's schemes but also very proud of his son. Harry had managed to do things no normal boy his age would have been able to do. They got into planning the ultimate revenge against Dumbledore.

* * *

Harry woke up to loud laughter the next morning. He sat up in his bed, put a morning robe over his pajama and went down, following the laughter into the kitchen. He found Sirius sitting at the kitchen table, the Daily Prophet in front of him, laughing his ass off. He walked over and looked over Sirius shoulder.

"Morning Pa." he greeted him.

"Morning Harry. Come, sit down, you have to read this, Rita printed her article about our visit to Diagon Alley. The Ministry will be in uproar."

Sirius smiled at Harry. He really liked being called Pa. He had wondered with which short form Harry would call him, as James had the 'Dad' reserved for him. Harry sat down next to Sirius and took the paper.

* * *

_Harry Potter's return_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_Two days ago on the 29__th__ of August the wizarding society could finally lay their worries about Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived (13) to rest as he and his charming new guardian Comte Orion de Jarjais, head of the noble and most ancient house de Jarjais (a pureblood family from France that has served the French kings for generations before the muggle revolution), arrived at the Leaky Cauldron via Floo Network._

_Many of us feared that Harry would be in a bad condition for having been forced to leave his horrible muggle relatives. Indeed those fears were confirmed as young Harry told the wizards and witches there what had happened in his past. Many had to suppress their tears hearing such a horrible story from the nice boy._

_"You can't imagine how hard it was to keep my emotions inside without having anybody who liked me. Those muggles hate everything connected with magic. They have called me a freak all my life. I was so glad to be able to escape them when I got my letter to Hogwarts, but every summer I had to return, being an orphan."_

_Thankfully Comte de Jarjais seems to have taken very good care of Harry and made sure that a personal friend, who is a healer, did a thorough health check of young Harry. He told he had symptoms of malnutrition and signs of not getting enough sun. This leads to more questions. Did those muggles imprison our hero? Why didn't he get enough food? As I wrote in my first article after the disappearance of Harry Potter, I took it upon myself to investigate the muggles with whom Harry lived before. So I am in the position to describe to you my faithful readers how those muggles looked like. I found out that the man was like a fat pudding with a moustache, the woman a thin, bony horse-faced bitch and the son resembled a baby killer whale (a muggle water-animal which becomes as big as a small dragon breed when grown up, the babies still are bigger than a hippogriff)._

_A well-known fact in the wizarding world is that the noble and most ancient house of Potter never had any problems with money. Why did Harry have to starve if there was no need? More so when his muggle relatives are as fat as they could get. To my experienced eye it was obvious, that Harry Potter is suffering from a severe case of abuse._

_I couldn't let this matter rest with good conscience and again went to Little Whinging, the village where the muggles who raised Harry live, to find out exactly what was going on there. After all it should be impossible that all the muggles never noticed how horrible our hero was treated. What I found out left me speechless. Their neighbors told me that they had been warned about Harry attending a school for criminal boys. Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin is feared by the other children in the neighborhood for being a brutal bully who likes to harm those weaker than him. A boy Harry's age remembered Harry from his primary school years. He told me, that nobody dared befriending Harry because they feared his cousin would beat them up for it as he did Harry._

_So Harry had not only to suffer mental abuse, but also physical. It doesn't surprise me now, that he lost control over his emotions, even after being trained at Hogwarts for two years. Everybody has a breaking point and Harry's has been triggered by a very cruel muggle woman who insulted his parents._

_Contrary to most beliefs in the past, Harry Potter seems to have been properly trained in pureblood customs as it is becoming of the heir of such an influential family like the Potters. He was a true gentleman from what I could observe during his shopping tour at Diagon Alley. He is even able to speak Gobbledygook as I could personally witness when he was visiting Gringotts Bank to get some gold for shopping._

_This brings up the one question: How was young Harry able to learn all this in such a short time? He was known to leave his muggle relatives house on August 7__th__. Now there were just 22 days for him to learn proper etiquette, Gobbledygook and who knows what Comte de Jarjais had thought important for his young charge to learn. From an interview with Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House at Hogwarts and teacher for Herbology, one gets a different opinion of Harry Potter's abilities._

"_He is really a nice boy, he tries hard in his classes, but until now I never found any kind of brilliance in his marks. Perhaps with the incident something has unlocked in Harry. He also had a hard year last term as all our students."_

_The hard year Professor Sprout mentioned was the opening of the infamous Chamber of Secrets the deceased Salazar Slytherin had built inside the castle to get rid of muggleborn students, who he thought unworthy of learning magic. Now the facts were kept really quiet, it is only known, that young Misters Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were awarded for services for the school._

_I was already on my way back to the Daily Prophets premises to write my article, when I coincidentally walked into Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor to get some of my favorite ice cream, vanilla with chocolate chips by the way, when I saw Harry with his two best friends, aforementioned Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger sitting in front of the parlor eating sundaes._

_They talked about the new school year and which subjects they had taken. When Ronald told Hermione that he couldn't understand why she wanted to take so many subjects, I have to admit by judging the girl's book bag, she is really ambitious to learn everything she can, and that he was glad that he and Harry had only taken two new subject, Harry answered he had changed his elections a bit. Thanks to some good advice of Comte de Jarjais, whom Harry calls Uncle Orion, he now takes Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes._

_It seems young Harry is trying to keep many possible career perspectives open. But the next thing I heard shocked me massively. His reason why he wants to be as prepared as he can is that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who Harry fearlessly calls by his name, is still somewhere out there and trying to get his body back. From young Harry's and his friend's conversation I could get, that in their first year their teacher in Defense against the Dark Arts, Professor Quirrell was possessed by the spirit of You-Know-Who and tried to get the Philosopher's Stone, that had been hidden at Hogwarts for safety reasons._

_Then after this failed attempt of You-Know-Who, he was trying to use the life energy of Ronald's younger sister Ginevra Weasley to return to full power by some bewitched diary. Undoubtedly there had been some very dark magic at work for this being possible. The poor Weasley girl had been tricked by the master of manipulation and nearly died. I could see Harry was really shaken by this. But who wouldn't be if he had to face a basilisk, the legendary monster of Slytherin? You read right, there was a basilisk living under the castle._

_Now the question is, how could headmaster Dumbledore allow all of these horrible things to happen at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Why does the Boy-Who-Lived have to face so many dangerous things at the supposedly safest place in Britain in the magical world? From a well informed source I can tell you that this year will no doubt be no different for the poor boy. Dementors are sent to Hogwarts to prevent Sirius Black from attacking Harry Potter. But who knows if the dementors wouldn't be the greater danger to all of the students?_

_I especially doubt that Harry Potter will see the wisdom in the Minister's decision regarding an earlier statement he made at the Leaky Cauldron:_

"_I was really concerned that they would send me to Azkaban. A friend of mine, he was really my first friend in the magical world and the first person to ever give me a birthday present on my eleventh birthday, has been sent there last year despite being innocent of the things that happened at Hogwarts last year. My friends and I managed to prove his innocence, but what he told of the place was terrible."_

_As this reporter sees it, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic never had any evidence that Rubeus Hagrid, the friend Harry Potter spoke of, was the culprit behind the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. Despite this he sent the man to Azkaban. I am questioning why our Minister seems to always depend on Dementors to solve critical situations. Every self-respecting wizard avoids those foul creatures but the Minister insists on positioning them around the school where our children will be exposed to them 24/7. _

_I call upon all concerned parents to get the Minister to rethink this decision. While Sirius Black is one of the most dangerous men who had ever been in the services of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he already managed to escape them once. Why wouldn't he be able to do it again and attack the students of Hogwarts regardless the presence of the dementors?_

_I will keep you informed and I will find the truth about the things that seems to be hidden in the shadows Dumbledore and the Ministry have built over the years._

* * *

"Oh wow, this is something. Dumbledore and Fudge won't be happy that Rita spread the seed of doubt about them. I wish she hadn't heard the thing about Ginny, but I really didn't see her at the ice cream parlor. I hope Ginny won't get problems because of this."

"I doubt it. The article clearly shows that she was a victim. And as the public loves you, they will read it as if you are very protective of the girl. I fear they could spin a love story between you and Ginny from this. But that would be all there could be. Try to be nice to all of your comrades at Hogwarts who haven't wronged you and you should be fine. And some witty responses will get you farther then rage, always keep that in mind Harry."

"I will Pa." He said smiling.

"I like being called Pa." Sirius said smiling and ruffled Harry's hair.

"And I like calling you that. It's strange to have someone I can call that. Thank you that you adopted me." Then Harry pondered about something.

"Uhm, I just thought about something. Will the staff at Hogwarts know that you have adopted me?"

"A good question. I think if this had happened before the new booklists would have been delivered they would have found out, but now the only one who could possibly find out would be McGonagall. She is the head of your house and gets the updates of all the students' familiar affairs. Dumbledore will only find out, if she tells him."

"I hope she was serious about not telling anyone my secrets. I mean my new subjects are out in the open thanks to Rita's article but that was not a real secret. The thing I am concerned about is Dumbledore finding out I found out about my heritage."

"We will cross that bridge when we reach it. Try to just behave like a normal student. I have signed your permission form for the Hogsmeade weekends so McGonagall shouldn't have any problems with that. As I have formally requested guardianship for you with the Ministry and Rita's article nobody should give you a hard time about it."

"Thanks Pa. I am really looking forward to explore the village with my friends. And I sure as hell will look into the shrieking shack. You told me so many stories about the time you were there keeping Moony company."

"Yes those were great times. I really miss having my friends around me. Cherish those times Harry as long as you can."

"I will." Harry answered. Then he grew sober.

"What will I do because of the dementors? Madam Bones said she would try to get rid of them but as they will be around the school in the beginning, I fear what they will do."

"I will try to teach you the patronus charm as soon as I can. The patronus is a kind of guardian against the dementors. It acts like a shield between you and the dementor. It is built by concentrating on a very happy memory and speaking the incantation _expecto patronum_. It will take some time for you to learn it, it is really advanced magic. We can start today but don't expect immediate success."

"Better than nothing Pa. I don't want to be helpless when I am confronted with one."

"Fair enough. Let's go into the hall, get Prongs' and Lily's portrait and start with the training."

Harry nodded relieved and followed Sirius out of the kitchen. He forgot that he hadn't eaten yet. The thought of being able to protect himself against those foul things took all of his attention.

* * *

**That's it for today, next chapter will be longer again.**


	15. The Dementor

**Disclaimer: HP belongs to JKR**

* * *

**The dementor**

Harry had mixed feelings about returning to Hogwarts. One way he wanted to return and see his friends again, make new friends and finally be able to really learn about magic without blocks on him. The other way he didn't want to leave his father and the portrait of his parents. He also didn't want to be where Dumbledore would have control over him but he could hardly change schools now. It would arouse suspicion and the major advantage he had because of his heritage and the connected political power was in Britain. He had already used his metamorph powers to change his new look back to what he looked before the blood adoption, well a healthier version at least. He would change his looks over the school year little by little to his true looks to throw of any suspicion there might be.

As soon as Sirius was cleared of the charges against him, he would be able to protect Harry, until then he would try to stay clear of Dumbledore. Sirius spotted Harry's way of thoughts and could really understand him. He didn't want Harry to go, but he knew it was necessary.

"Hey, don't worry Harry. We will see each other at the weekends for your training and if you give me the dates for your Hogsmeade weekends when they are published, I will come to visit so we can just hang out for some time."

"Yes, it's just, I have always wanted a family and I just got you back, I don't really want to leave you." Harry admitted.

"I know. I will write you I promise. What I also wanted to ask is there a country you always wanted to see for holidays?" Sirius asked.

"I never really thought about it, why?"

"I want to make plans for the Christmas and summer holidays. And I think we could travel somewhere you always wanted to go to. I know some very nice places outside Britain I also want to show you."

"That would be great Pa. I think I would like a beach with some historical attractions nearby. So we could combine lazing at the beach with some sightseeing."

"Sounds good. Perhaps Southern France or Greece. I will look into the possibilities. Well, you better pack your trunk, so we don't have to be stressed out tomorrow. I prefer sleeping until nine, eating breakfast and then we will have Dobby and Kreacher apparate us to Kings Cross station. Then you will have enough time to find a compartment for you and your friends, what do you think of this plan?"

"Sounds good Pa. I like the idea of sleeping as long as possible."

* * *

The next morning things at Number 12 Grimmauld place were really relaxed. Harry's new trunk Sirius had insisted to buy for him, stood packed in the entrance hall. Hedwig was safely in her cage next to the trunk. In case Harry had forgotten something, Dobby or Kreacher could take it to Hogwarts for him. Sirius and Harry enjoyed a healthy breakfast with cereals, milk, fresh fruits, bread, different toppings and eggs. They talked and laughed about ideas to give Snape a hard time for ridiculing Harry and Sirius made Harry promise to show him the memories of Snape's dumbstruck face, when he found out, that Harry had memorized the potions of the third year syllabus as well as those of the fourth year just as a precaution.

They decided to slightly change their plans and walk to Kings Cross, as it wasn't that far away from Grimmauld Place. Kreacher and Dobby would apparate with Harry's school things and wait for them.

It was a nice day and they thoroughly enjoyed their walk. Sirius entertained Harry with some pranks the marauders had played at school and how some of the gray hairs Professor McGonagall had were their fault. Harry laughed. He thought he had added a few ones too with his talent to find trouble. Soon they reached the station where Kreacher and Dobby had loaded a trolley with Harry's things and kept out of sight of the muggles.

"Thank you for bringing my things here Dobby and Kreacher. I really appreciate this."

"It was no problem Master Harry." Dobby said.

"Yes Master Harry. It is the job of a good house elf to make his Master's life comfortable." Kreacher added.

"You are both good elves." Harry said. "I will see you soon, when I come back for my training. Until then you two."

The two elves bowed and disapparated. Sirius took the trolley and pushed it towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. They passed the wall and saw the Hogwarts Express waiting for the students to go for Hogwarts. Sirius helped Harry put his things into an empty compartment and then the two exited the train. Sirius started to point out several families he knew.

"Those are the Diggorys. Amos Diggory is head of a department at the Ministry. I think his son is called Cedric. He was a toddler when I was imprisoned. Those are the Greengrasses, they are leading a well-known crystal manufacture. Their crystals are some of the best at warding. Those are the McReggis they have produced many skilled healers. The Lovegoods, Xeno is editor of the Quibbler, a bit weird but the only one who prints things that the prophet doesn't want to print or wanted in the past.

"You know Madam Bones, those are the Boots, I think they have a lawyer facility. The Hellingtons, a muggle family who is producing music instruments of high quality, I didn't know they had a son who was a wizard, hm, the boy looks like he is a first year student. The Kempells, famous for their magical farms in Ireland."

Harry tried to remember the faces of the students and what their families did for a living. It was really interesting to get to know what possibilities there were in the wizarding world. Sirius pointed out the niece of Rufus Scrimgeour, the current head auror, some famous actor with his son and many more. Then finally Harry saw one of his friends arrive. It was Hermione with her parents.

"Hey Hermione." Harry greeted.

"Harry." She returned the greeting happily. "Hello Mr. de Jarjais." She added to greet Sirius.

"Hello Hermione, nice to see you again." Sirius greeted the girl. "I suppose these are your parents."

"Yes they are, mom, dad, please meet Orion de Jarjais, my friend Harry's new guardian. Mr. de Jarjais, these are my parents Dan and Emma Granger." Hermione introduced them.

"I'm pleased to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Granger." Sirius shook both of their hands.

Harry could hear a sneer behind him. Turning around he saw the Malfoys. Draco was accompanied by his father and Lucius was sneering at the display of equality that Sirius displayed towards the Grangers.

"And I thought the Weasleys had no proper wizarding pride. I didn't know there were others who would be that dirtied." He snidely remarked.

"I would be careful with the choice of my words Lord Malfoy. It would be unbecoming to insult the Lord of three pureblood houses that reach farther back than the Malfoys ever could." Sirius replied calmly.

"Three?" Lucius sneered.

"Of course, I have two other Lordships next to the Comte de Jarjais title. But I won't tell you. That would be too easy. But I advise you to be a bit more tactful. You could be confused with a death eater and we all know that you pledged to have been controlled by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Your current behavior could be misinterpreted Lord Malfoy."

This left Lucius Malfoy speechless. He couldn't argue with that as everybody knew of his story to avoid Azkaban. While Minister Fudge was easily bought with money, others were more difficult and everything depended on his good name. Further as this Comte de Jarjais was the current hero for saving the Potter boy, he was near untouchable. Lucius knew better than aggravate a man like this in public.

"Let's go Draco, we will look for better company." He said, turning away from the group.

"Yes father." Draco answered sneering at them.

Harry silently laughed. It was good to see the Malfoys being put down a bit. Hermione was also grinning about the small dent into the Malfoy's perfect world.

Then the two saw the laughing Weasley twins coming through the barrier. They saw them and came over to greet.

"Hello Everybody." Fred said.

"How absolutely..." George continued.

"...wonderful..." Fred

"...meeting you..." George

"...at this fine..." Fred

"...1st September morning..." George

"...finest Lords and Ladies." both twins ended with a bow.

Harry, Sirius and Hermione laughed. This was so typical for the twins.

"Let me guess, Percy was a prat and you are still on a high from playing a prank on him." Harry brought out.

"How could you..." Fred

"...assume that we..." George

"...would put our..." Fred

"...bighead boy of..." George

"...a brother who no doubt..." Fred

"...is the biggest prat there is..." George

"...through this kind of treatment." Fred

"I fear you really..." George

"...know us too well." They ended.

"Not really hard when you and Ron have only been annoyed with Percy's behavior when we met you three days ago at the Leaky Cauldron." Sirius said grinning equally to Harry.

"Yes, I have to admit that is obviously a very good hint brother of mine." Fred said.

"We really have to work on our subtlety, I agree dearest brother." George agreed.

"Of course you are right, we bewitched dear Percy's head boy badge he so proudly presented." Fred started explaining.

"That it now shows what a bighead boy he really is. He still hasn't noticed." George finished proudly.

Now the next part of the Weasleys came through the barrier, Percy, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. They greeted everybody and when Percy started to bloat again, the twins quickly ended his tirade with some witty words.

Lastly Ron and Mr. Weasley came through the barrier and Ron came over to talk to his friends, but soon he and Hermione followed Harry to the compartment he had found for them. There was now one other occupant, they didn't know, but obviously he was a new teacher because he was way too old to be a student. They didn't mind at all, for it would be really funny to see the pompous fool try anything with a new teacher around. Harry's eyes fell upon the label of the man's trunk.

'Professor R.J. Lupin' it read. His head began spinning. Moony, a new teacher at Hogwarts? That was fantastic. He could subtly let him know that his father was innocent and he could get his uncle back. But he couldn't be rash about this. He would ask his Pa how they should proceed. But with Moony at Hogwarts it would be easier for them because they didn't have to find him first. Harry, Ron and Hermione left the train again to say goodbye to their families.

Hermione's parents hugged her and wished her the best for the new year. Ron was reminded to work hard and that he, Harry and Hermione were to behave and not seek any trouble this year. Sirius looked at Harry proudly.

"I'm sure you know how to behave, I don't have to tell you this. Have fun, don't give your teachers too hard a time, prove that you are worthy of the title you hold."

"I will Uncle Orion. I will miss you."

"Me too. I will see you at the Christmas holidays. And don't worry, I will write at least once a week." Sirius winked and Harry hugged him.

"Thank you." He said.

"Get onto the train, we don't want you to jump on the last minute." He said, ruffling Harry's hair. Harry nodded and walked to the train, Ron and Hermione following him.

* * *

Everything was fine for some hours. Harry laughed with Ron and Hermione, exchanging more stories about their holidays. It was interesting what Hermione had seen in France and Ron in Egypt. Thanks to sleeping Moony Malfoy didn't dare to try anything fishy.

It was when the train began getting slower and slower. Hermione checked her watch, finding that they couldn't have reached Hogsmeade yet. Then the train stopped completely with a jolt and several trunks were thrown out of their racks. The sounds of the rain and wind outside had become louder and now many students were seen poking their heads out of their compartments. Then suddenly the light went out. The whole train was plunged in total darkness.

A lot of stumbling in the dark and some others entering their compartment, turning out as Neville and Ginny who wanted to find out what was going on.

The ruckus the five were making was enough to wake Moony finally.

"Quiet." Moony said.

All of them kept their quiet and listened to the sounds around. There was a soft crackling noise and a shivering light filled the compartment. Moony appeared to be holding a hand of flames. They illuminated his gray and tired face but his eyes looked aware and weary.

"Stay where you are." He told them.

He stood up, still holding the flames in front of him, but before he could reach the door, it slid slowly open. A cloaked figure was standing in the door, illuminated by the flames in Moony's hand. Harry's eyes darted over the figure. The reality was much worse than all of his father's descriptions. A hand was protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy looking and scabbed, like something dead had decayed in water. A dementor of Azkaban. Sensing Harry's gaze the hand was withdrawn back into the cloak.

And then it drew a long, slow rattling breath as though it was sucking more than air from his surroundings. Harry quickly felt the effects. A sickeningly cold swept over them all. He thanked every good spirit for his occlumency lessons with his Pa as they gave him a few precious moments to collect himself before the dementor could gain his full effect on him. Harry felt how hopelessness and despair began to grab him. But he put up his little mental defenses and tried to concentrate on a happy memory. He pulled his wand and yelled '_expecto patronum' _and got a small cloud of silvery mist that hovered between him and the dementor.

He got to look around in the compartment and saw Ginny shaking madly, Hermione and Ron were looking really pale and Neville was of even worse. Harry began hearing voices, a woman screaming in the distance. He couldn't really identify anything, but he felt his weak attempt for a patronus waiver. He tried to concentrate as Sirius had told him. Thinking of his Pa made the mist become a little stronger.

Harry was drained, in cold sweat and his hand was shaking madly. It took all he had to even keep this little defense up. If the effects were this bad when he had a weak patronus, he didn't want to think what would happen to him, if it vanished. The negative thoughts weakened his patronus immediately. Then he heard a godsend voice.

"Nobody here is hiding Sirius Black under his cloak, leave." Moony said.

The dementor didn't budge. Moony decided to act instead to talk to a being unable to see reason if it was sucking the happiness out of unfortunate victims.

'_Expecto Patronum.'_ Moony said and his patronus did the trick to make the dementor leave them.

Harry was swaying on his feet, feeling extremely exhausted. He felt strong arms directing him gently to his seat. He gratefully sat down, looking in Moony's face. His whole body felt the cold sweat that covered him.

"That was really impressive Harry. I didn't know you even knew about the patronus charm." Moony said.

"Uncle Orion began teaching me the charm after Madam Bones told us, that the Minister insisted on stationing these monsters around Hogwarts to protect me. Idiot." He added muttering.

He could have sworn Moony was grinning at this. He then turned to the others and helped them up as Ginny had nearly fallen onto the floor. The train began moving again.

"Who was the one who screamed?" Harry asked wondering about his experience with the dementor.

"Nobody screamed mate." Ron said confused.

They all nearly jumped, when something snapped in the direction of Moony. When they looked at him, they saw him breaking a huge bar of chocolate.

"Here eat this, it will help, I have to go see the driver. Excuse me." Moony said and left the compartment.

Harry remembering the things his father had told him about dementors, ate the chocolate. A bit of warmth spread through his body. He continued eating. He never again wanted to meet one of those things, but the idiotic Ministry just had to put a pack of them around a school. If his and his friends' reactions were any indication it was insanity on its greatest level possible. Azkaban must be truly horrible. To have to live in close proximity of this parasitic monsters. He shivered.

Ginny was in tears and Hermione hugged her to help her a bit. Harry was grateful for Hermione's actions. He was in no state to help anyone right now. He felt drained.

"What was that silver mist you produced Harry?" Neville asked.

"Patronus charm, but I haven't mastered it yet. The same thing Professor Lupin used to drive the dementor away. Just his was way stronger than mine. I really had problems to keep at least the little mist I produced up."

"Where did you learn it?" Hermione asked and Harry realized that he had spoken really quiet when he answered the same question to Moony.

"Uncle Orion taught me. I knew about the dementors from what Hagrid told us last year. And Madam Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement wanted to speak with Uncle Orion and me when we were at Diagon Alley shopping for my things that day. She told us, that the Minister insisted to place them around Hogwarts to supposedly keep me safe from Sirius Black. Moron." Harry added bitterly.

"How can you speak about the Minister of Magic that way Harry?" Hermione frowned.

"If a responsible adult would think about ways to protect the school, would they think of dementors, monsters that suck the happiness of their victims via the air? Would they put dangerous creatures class 5 around helpless children? And without anybody to really control them? Nobody at Hogwarts except the teachers is able to conjure a corporeal patronus. They are defense techniques taught to aurors. I only know about them because Uncle Orion can use the charm and I wanted to be at least able to protect myself a bit. The earliest you are normally taught about them is N.E.W.T. level defense. And they are not required to pass your exams. Many adult witches and wizards have problems producing a working one. If I hadn't learned as much as I already have, I think I would have passed out. I don't want to think what Malfoy would make out of that."

"Harry is right." Neville said. "It is completely insane what the Minister has thought up. Gran already is thinking of ways to show the Minister what a fool he is."

"Write her to contact Madam Bones and offer her help. She is on the warpath against the Minister because of this. To have the Lady of the noble and ancient house of Longbottom at her side would be a great help for her." Harry advised.

"Good to know. Those things are awful. The sooner they leave Hogwarts, the better, I already have problems enough mastering the spells. Gran constantly reminds me that I should prove myself worthy of the name Longbottom and my father's wand."

This got Harry's interest.

"Wait Neville, you use your father's wand?" He asked.

"Yes, Gran says it is the best way to honor my father." Neville became gloomy.

"What happened to your father?" Ron asked completely missing the tension in the air.

Neville began shaking.

"Seriously Ron, how can you be so tactless, it's obvious Neville doesn't want to speak about it and we won't force him to do so." Hermione berated Ron.

Harry was silent. He knew from what Sirius told him what happened to Neville's parents. To lose your sanity because some mad death eaters tried to find their damned Lord. He decided to just drop this topic until Neville was ready.

"Neville, I have learned one important thing from Olivander the wand maker. The wand chooses the wizard. Not the other way round. Your problems with casting spells could be that your wand and you are not compatible. I would ask Professor McGonagall to help you to test this out and if I am right, get a new wand at a weekend in Diagon Alley. You can't let yourself be restricted because you don't have the proper tools to succeed."

"Perhaps you are right." Neville admitted, glad about the change of topic.

Harry decided to talk to Neville later in private. If Dumbledore wanted a back-up plan he could have handicapped Neville like he had done with Harry. He also wanted Neville to know that he was aware of the fate of his parents and would be there if Neville wanted to talk about it.

"By the way I would advise you to eat the chocolate. It helps getting warm again, trust me I did it already." Harry said.

The stared at the chocolate in their hands and ate it. All of them experienced feeling a little better after this.

* * *

**That's it for this week. See you next weekend.**

**And thanks to all those who left me reviews.**


	16. Return to Hogwarts  New Term

**Sorry for the delay but I was busy at the weekend and fell ill afterwards. So the update comes on Wednesday once. **

**As some readers complained that the last chapter was too short (aww) this one is longer. I had first planned to have it in two chapters but dividing was a bit problematical without getting two very unequally long chapters.**

**Thanks to all those who left a review (take a cookie ;).**

**Disclaimer: Potter-verse is a production of JKR.**

**Have fun with the new chapter.**

* * *

**Return to Hogwarts**

The ride to the castle with the carriages was interesting for Harry as he hadn't used them last year as Ron and he had used the old Ford Anglia of Mr. Weasley to fly to Hogwarts after missing the train. They had greeted Hagrid in passing as he had been collecting the first years for the travel over the lake. Harry was glad he didn't have to go over there. The weather was bad enough as it was, thank you very much.

The carriages went their way up to the school and when they passed the gates, two other hooded dementors stood there. Their presence made Harry shiver again. Thankfully it didn't last very long until their range was passed by the carriage. They reached the big main door and hurriedly made the way out of the rain and into the castle. Promptly they were stopped by Malfoy and his goons Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hey Potter, I heard some interesting news, is it true you nearly fainted because of the big bad dementor searching the train?" He laughed.

"You should get your information network checked out Malfoy. I would expect a pureblood wizard like yourself making sure your back is covered from false information. Greengrass, I know you are way better at observation and information gathering than him, care to tell him your intel?" Harry stated calmly and politely, stopping all conversation around them.

Nobody had ever seen Harry Potter of all people showing that much dignity and aloofness. Daphne Greengrass a third year Slytherin was especially surprised by Harry's question but nonetheless pleased with his knowledge of her specialty. After all, normally Gryffindors didn't acknowledge the abilities of Slytherins. While Malfoy was her housemate, her own chance to show her superiority in this field was too good to pass on.

"Well, I hate to admit it, but Potter is right. Malfoy you haven't done your research thoroughly enough. While he has had problems with the dementors he was able to cast a weak patronus charm. Nowhere near powerful enough to drive the dementor away of course, but it stopped the dementor from progressing and offered a little protection to Potter. Following my information it was the new teacher who also was in the compartment who drove the dementor away."

Harry smiled. "See Malfoy, that is correct and most importantly complete information. You can only gain an advantage over an opponent if you know the complete picture and not only a part of it. Otherwise it may fire back in your face whatever you have planned. You have handled this as it was to be expected from the heiress of the ancient and noble house of Greengrass. Now excuse me, I want to go to the great hall to get warm again. The weather is horrible outside."

Harry smiled gave a little respectful bow to Daphne Greengrass and did as he said and took off in the direction of the great hall, leaving a stunned Malfoy and five other mildly impressed Slytherins behind him. That show was pureblood attitude at its finest. And to see it with Potter was quite confusing. Not to mention that he had managed to bring a little blush on the cheeks of the normally perfectly controlled Greengrass heiress.

"Harry that was brilliant." Hermione beamed at him.

Neville and Ron just nodded.

"Thanks. P- Uncle was right, smart ass responses are really fun to use against Malfoy. Did you see his stunned face? Priceless."

Harry laughed and tried to overplay his near slip of tongue. Nobody was to know of his adoption yet. He just hoped nobody had caught on it and it seemed he was lucky this time.

"Potter, Granger, I need a quick word with you." Suddenly the voice of Minerva McGonagall was heard.

The two turned towards their head of house.

"Why? We were just going to the feast." Harry said.

"Don't worry, I just have something to discuss with you. Please follow me, Weasley, Longbottom, go on to the hall, these two will join you later." She said sternly.

Neville and Ron shrugged their shoulders and went on following the constant stream of students.

McGonagall lead Harry and Hermione to her office. Waiting there was Madam Pomfrey.

"Of course, it's you Potter." Madam Pomfrey said. "What did you do this time? What dangerous thing have you gotten yourself into this time?" She demanded to know.

"It was a dementor Poppy." McGonagall interrupted.

"Let me guess, he fainted due to the memories the dementor conjured in him. Horrible things. How could they post them around the school?"

"No Poppy, Mr. Potter didn't faint, he produced some kind of weak patronus from what Professor Lupin told in his notice. Remarkable for a thirteen year old I must say." She said proudly.

"Thanks Professor." Harry said grinning.

"Well, he still looks a bit pale. Perhaps it would be good for him to spend the night at the infirmary." Madam Pomfrey suggested.

"No, absolutely not. I thank you for your concern Madam Pomfrey, but I am fine. I want to go to the feast and sleep in my own bed in Gryffindor tower. If I was to go to the infirmary because of being pale after being confronted with a dementor, all the students in this school would have to stay over at the infirmary for the night." Harry argued.

Madam Pomfrey huffed, but he had a point.

"Why don't you just give a little speech at the beginning of the feast, that every student should eat some chocolate to counter the after-effects of the dementors? I know that it helped after Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave all of us who were in the compartment at the time some." Harry told them.

"Oh, so we finally have a teacher in Defense against the Dark Arts who knows his remedies. Very well Mr. Potter, your suggestion is good. I will talk with the headmaster to give this little speech. And I will talk with the house elves so that they send some chocolate up to the tables."

Madam Pomfrey left the office to get to Dumbledore.

"You have changed over the summer Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall stated.

"Yes I have. Sometimes we have to change to …" He stopped looking into space not knowing what to tell his head of house.

"I see. Well, so far I like the changes. I hope you will apply yourself in your studies this year. That beginning of a patronus gives me hope for good results in your classes. Well, if something comes up, you want to speak about, feel free to look for me Mr. Potter. Now if you could please give me a few minutes alone with Ms. Granger, than we can go to the feast together."

Harry nodded and left the office to wait at the corridor.

* * *

Minutes later Hermione came out of the office beaming, followed by Professor McGonagall. They went down to the great hall where McGonagall walked to the staff table and Harry and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Ron and Neville who had kept two seats for them. The sorting had just finished and Harry let his eyes wander over the new first year Gryffindors. Four boys and five girls. Well, he would probably get to know them with time.

Dumbledore stood up to give his welcoming speech. Harry tried his hardest not to make a face. He really wanted to hex the man for everything he had done to him. But he knew he wasn't ready yet. While being a totally insane control freak he was still a very powerful wizard. And for all the things Dumbledore had done, he first had to get rid of Voldemort. Sadly Dumbles was the only wizard Voldy had ever feared. Having him as a symbol for the dark psychopath to not be too full of himself, was a necessary evil until he was ready.

"Welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts. I think it would be best to get over with the announcements before we fill ourselves with the fantastic feast that is waiting for us. As you have seen, Hogwarts at the moment hosts some of the dementors of Azkaban as protection against the escaped mass murderer Sirius Black."

'Mass murderer my ass.' Harry thought.

"Dementors are not built to grant mercy, so I request from all of you not to aggravate the dementors. They are dangerous creatures and are not to be meddled with. So give them no reason to harm you. In regard to the effects of the dementors on humans, Madam Pomfrey our school healer has organized bars of chocolate for every house table. Make sure all of you eat some, because it neutralizes the effects of the dementors. After the search of the Hogwarts express it will do you good.

"The forbidden forest is out of bounds for all students. This is a warning especially to the first years, but some of the older students might want to remember it as well." He pointedly looked at the Gryffindor table, where Harry could care less.

Hermione recognized that Harry was behaving slightly strange. Something had happened in the summer and it wasn't just the incident with his aunt, he accidentally blew up. More was going on and she would find out what was bothering Harry.

"I also want to greet the new additions to our staff. Professor Remus Lupin will be taking the post of Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher..." There was some polite applause, which was a lot louder from those who had been in the same compartment with him on the train, "...and as Professor Kettleburn has retired at the end of last year I am pleased to introduce Rubeus Hagrid as the new teacher for Care of Magical Creatures."

The applause Hagrid got was way louder than that for Lupin, especially at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore continued after the clapping had died down.

"Mr. Filch has asked me to remember all of you, that magic on the corridors is forbidden and that a list of all banned magical objects in the school could be looked at, at his office door. Now that the serious part is done, let the feast begin."

* * *

Harry had had a good night's sleep in his four poster bed in Gryffindor tower and was now waiting in the common room for Ron and Hermione to go down for having breakfast. They arrived just a few minutes later and they made their way down to the great hall. A lot of other students were already there to have breakfast. They met the twins, who were busily discussing a new prank or something.

"Good morning." They greeted the younger ones.

"Good morning." They answered.

Harry placed his hands on his plate and shortly closed his eyes. Soon his breakfast appeared.

"Harry what was that?" Ron asked.

"Well, I had symptoms of malnutrition from my time at the Dursleys and the healer my uncle got for me, gave me a plan how my diet should be built. Uncle Orion wrote to Madam Pomfrey to make sure I kept up with the diet like I am supposed to. She gave the plan to the house elves in the kitchen and all I have to do now is to place my hand on the plate, push a little magic into my hand and the elves will know it is me and send up the things I am supposed to eat in the mornings. It's not so bad. I have taken quite a liking to having fresh fruits and milk in the morning. And I have no restrictions at feasts like yesterday, where I can eat and drink whatever I want to."

True to Harry's words there was a bowl of fresh cut fruits, cereals, milk, some honey to sweet the cereals, some slices of dark bread, cheese and bacon. A cooked egg rounded the whole thing.

"Wow that is great Harry." Fred said.

For once the twins didn't try to annoy someone. They knew too well how Harry had been treated at his muggle relatives' home. They had after all rescued him last year's summer from there. They both knew how much it meant to Harry to have an adult who really cared for him.

Harry dug in while still remembering the etiquette training Sirius had put him through and Ron and Hermione followed with their own breakfasts. While they ate Professor McGonagall went around the table and passed out the timetables for the students. Harry, Ron and Hermione got the new plans for the third years.

"Oh good, we are starting with some new subjects today" Hermione declared happily.

They looked at it and Ron immediately spotted a problem for Hermione when he looked at her timetable.

"Hermione, they really have messed up your timetable. They have you down for ten subjects all day. There just isn't enough time for it. Look, you even have got some subjects at the same time. Nine o'clock Divination, then nine o'clock Muggle Studies and also nine o'clock Arithmancy. I know you are good, but you can't be at three places at the same time." Ron exclaimed.

"Don't be silly Ron, of course I can't be at three places at the same time. But I have fixed everything with Professor McGonagall. Please pass the marmalade." She said.

"But..." Ron started.

"Ron, what does it interest you if my timetable is slightly full? I told you I have everything fixed with Professor McGonagall."

Just then Hagrid entered the great hall. He was wearing his long moleskin overcoat.

"All right? Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch. Bin up since five in the mornin' getting everythin' ready … hope it's OK … me a teacher … hones'ly…" He grinned broadly and then headed to the staff table.

"Wonder what he has been getting ready." Said Ron a note of anxiety in his voice.

The Great hall emptied as students walked towards their lessons.

"We should get going Hermione. Divination is at the top of north tower and it is a long distance to walk. Or are you going to one of the other subjects first?" Ron asked.

"I will come with you, you are right, we should get going. See you later Harry." Hermione said and followed Ron.

Harry got up to get his books for the morning. He also wondered how Hermione wanted to manage her timetable as she couldn't expect to be able to do her classes while not being able to attend some of them because they overlapped.

Harry looked at his timetable.

* * *

Timetable Harry James Potter

Monday

09.00 – 10.50 Arithmancy (all houses)  
11.00 – 12.50 Transfiguration (Gryffindor)  
13.00 – 14.00 lunch  
14.00 – 15.50 Care of Magical Creatures (Gryffindor, Slytherin)  
16.00 – 16.55 Charms (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw)

Tuesday

09.00 – 10.50 Ancient Runes (all houses)  
11.00 – 12.50 History of Magic (all houses)  
13.00 – 14.00 lunch  
14.00 – 15.50 Herbology (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff)  
16.00 – 16.55 free  
21.00 – 22.55 Astronomy (all houses)

Wednesday

09.00 – 10.50 Charms (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw)  
11.00 – 12.50 Defense against the Dark Arts (Gryffindor)  
13.00 – 14.00 lunch  
14.00 – 14.55 Arithmancy (all houses)  
15.00 – 15.55 free  
16.00 – 16.55 History of Magic (all houses)

Thursday

09.00 – 10.50 Ancient Runes (all houses)  
11.00 – 12.50 Potions (Gryffindor, Slytherin)  
13.00 – 14.00 lunch  
14.00 – 15.50 Defense against the Dark Arts (Gryffindor)  
16.00 – 16.55 free

Friday

09.00 – 10.50 Herbology (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff)  
11.00 – 12.50 Potions (Gryffindor, Slytherin)  
13.00 – 14.00 lunch  
14.00 – 15.50 Transfiguration (Gryffindor)  
16.00 – 16.55 free

* * *

So far he had enough work to do. He also wondered how Hermione was supposed to do all the work she had signed up for. He had a suspicion that she had something to help her attend all her classes. Perhaps his father had an idea how that would be possible. But as he himself had a lot of secrets to keep this year, he wouldn't dig for Hermione's. If she didn't want to tell them or couldn't he would respect that. He went to get his books for Arithmancy and Transfiguration and went to the classroom.

* * *

As he suspected he saw Hermione with twelve other students waiting in front of the room.

"Hey Hermione." He greeted.

"Hey Harry. Are you also curious what this subject will be like?" She asked.

"Yes I am. But I have some idea as I already told you. I am looking forward to these lessons."

He looked around to see which of the other students he knew. There were four Ravenclaws, three Hufflepuffs, two Slytherins and two other Gryffindors, Dean Thomas and Katherine Romell. The Ravenclaws were Lisa Turpin, Padma Patil, Terry Boot and Christopher Langan. The Hufflepuffs were Earnie McMillan, Hannah Abbot and Stephanie Glowers. The Slytherins were Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass.

Harry nodded politely to the others. Then the door opened and a brown haired witch in a dark blue cloak let them into the room. Harry and Hermione took seats in the middle of the room. With only thirteen students there was enough space for all of them. The walls in the room were decorated with several charts of numbers, calculations of the properties of several potion ingredients and star charts.

"Welcome to your first lesson of Arithmancy. My name is Professor Septima Vector and I will be your teacher. In this class you will learn how to analyze the structure of spells and potion ingredients, about the influence of the environment to magic, your own special powers and the importance of your dates of birth. Everything in magic can be somewhat analyzed. An example for a career that heavily builds around arithmetical calculations is the curse-breaker. The job would be way too dangerous if the curse-breaker couldn't analyze the protections or traps he is confronted with. For an introduction please open your book at page six and read about the meanings of numbers in magical dates of birth. We will then analyze the birthdays of everybody in this class and discuss what the conclusions you could come to from the things stated in the book are.

"As there will be not that much practical work until you have gotten a solid understanding of the basics I want to keep things interesting by giving you opportunities to discuss the things you read. When you have built a good understanding of the subject, probably we will reach this point in your fifth year, we can start for you to create your own spells under supervision. I think that is one of the more interesting parts of this subject. But if you don't understand what you are doing, things could go horribly wrong. So know that I won't allow any goofing around in my class when we are working on something."

The students nodded. The opportunity to create their own spells was intriguing them. They didn't want to ruin it. They all got their books out and began to read the introduction of numbers in dates of birth.

Harry was happy. Arithmancy had been a really good lesson and he had gotten into some really interesting discussions with his classmates. Lisa Turpin had asked some really good questions about how you were to break down your date of birth into numbers. The months were the easy part as each month had a number from one to twelve, which each had certain strength to it. Especially three, seven and thirteen were strong numbers, but as there were only twelve months, thirteen wasn't relevant for this part, it only became included with the dates. He found out, that Earnie was just seven days younger than him, born on the 7th August. Padma was born in April on the 16th, Hermione September 19th, he had already planned her birthday present, it was well hidden in his three compartment trunk his Pa had gotten him, and Katherine was born January 4th.

They had calculated and from what they found out, Blaise was leaning towards theoretical subjects from his date of birth. Those born in November were normally born with a big patience and that was necessary for success in studies. The 24th was a combination of several numbers as the number could be split in several others. They found out, that cunning and taking advantage of opportunities was always found in those who were born on dates with high numbers. It didn't mean one was always doing the things their birthdays hinted upon, but it was a high probability.

Harry had gotten along with the others really well. He enjoyed making new acquaintances. Even the two Slytherins were speaking normally with him and didn't sneer at him all the time like they did in potions. Well, most of them. Harry had to admit he didn't really pay that much attention to all the Slytherins as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were really annoying him most of the time. Those who kept to the back of the Slytherin side of the room, he didn't really know about. While Blaise was more arrogant than Harry really liked, he was tolerable to be around. And Harry didn't want to make enemies, so he kept the conversation with him polite but distant.

He had gotten the impression that the Ravenclaws were especially surprised about his analytical abilities. Arithmancy really was an ideal subject for him now that his analytical abilities were no longer blocked. Hermione told him how proud she was, that he now took his studies more serious. Harry just smiled at this. It was too early to let Hermione and Ron know about everything.

* * *

They met Ron at the classroom for Transfiguration. Harry noticed, that the others were weirdly subdued. What the hell had happened?

"Ron, why are you so glumly?" He asked his best friend.

Ron attempted to answer as Professor McGonagall entered the room. The students stopped whatever little talk had been going on. Harry was still confused. He was really impressed by McGonagall's animagus transformation and he wondered why he seemingly was one of three who was. The others were Dean and Katherine. Even Hermione seemed glum and she had been perfectly content after their Arithmancy lesson.

"Alright, what is wrong with you? This is the first time I didn't get applause for my transformation from one of my classes." She asked.

She sternly observed the faces of her students. Finally Hermione raised her hand.

"We just had our first Divination lesson Professor." She began.

"No need to tell me more Miss Granger. So please enlighten me, which of you is going to die this year?" She asked.

The students looked at her shocked. Harry tried not to grin. From McGonagall's reaction this was a common occurrence. The Divination teacher really had to be a fraud to be that predictable.

Neville raised his hand. He looked really terrified. Harry was mad. Why did it have to be Neville? Didn't he have to suffer enough because of what had happened to his parents when he was seventeen months old? Stupid teacher he decided for himself.

"Well, I want to let you all know that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student each year without fail and until now all of them are still alive and really healthy. Mr. Longbottom, you don't look like you would die on me any moment so I hope you will forgive me, if I don't except you from doing your homework. But be assured you won't be asked to hand it in if you should really die." She said.

Neville didn't look really convinced.

"Relax Neville. Divination is a very unreliable branch of magic and it can't be learned at all if you aren't born with the gift to be a seer. True seers are really rare from what I have heard. The only way a seer is able to predict something is if they fall in a kind of trance. I would be really surprised if Professor Trelawney did so while teaching the class. It would be highly unprofessional to leave her class unsupervised. I think most of her predictions are what the muggles call hocus pocus. Not reliable at all." Harry added.

Nearly everybody stared at him. They were not used to a Harry Potter who so openly spoke his mind.

"Very well said Mr. Potter. Five points to Gryffindor for a highly logical analysis. Mr. Potter is right. Not all predictions are true and true seers are very rare. But now let us continue with the topic of animagi. The transformation from a human into an animal is highly advanced magic. There are many things that could go wrong if somebody doesn't undergo the transformation with the acquired care. Therefore the Ministry of Magic strictly controls those who become animagi. More so, there are many ways to abuse the powers. All animagi are requested to register with the Ministry or are to face severe punishment."

Harry raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"Professor, are there ways to identify an animagus? I mean, how can we tell if an animal is a transformed wizard in reality?"

"Good question Mr. Potter. Well, there is only one way to really be sure and that is the animagus revealing spell. We will cover the spell later in the year and you all will learn it. For now I can tell you, that it has two forms. One is to force the animagus to reveal his real form and another to just show the caster if an animal is an animagus. The spell will give the animal a glow. If it glows green it is a normal animal. If it glows blue it is a magical animal, if it glows red it is an animagus."

Harry nodded. This was important to know. If they used their own animals for this lesson, he could reveal Scabbers as an animagus in front of McGonagall's eyes. A better opportunity would be hard to find. After all, he couldn't prove that Scabbers was Pettigrew and Ron wouldn't accept it if Harry just stole the rat.

* * *

They ate lunch and Ron grilled Harry about his sudden increase in knowledge.

"It's really easy Ron." Harry began explaining.

All the other Gryffindor third years were listening intently.

"You all know what happened this summer. I ran away from the muggles who raised and abused me because I couldn't take it anymore. Then Uncle Orion found me and gave me a real home. He is like the father I never had after my own parents were murdered. Living with him is so easy. He is a really intelligent wizard and he didn't hesitate to take me in, even if he and my parents were only shortly friends from a holiday where they met. I don't want to disappoint him by slacking at school. The Dursleys never cared about my grades, in primary school; I was punished if I outdid Dudley, but now there is someone who is interested in me.

"And he likes me how I am, not The-Boy-Who-Lived, he likes me as Harry. Just Harry. I want to make him proud of me and I want to live up to my parent's memory. I have found out, that both of them were really good at school. So I used the time I spent at my uncle's home to read up on several subjects. I reviewed the stuff we learned in first and second year to be sure, I really knew it and did some research on the new subjects. Uncle Orion was really helpful in this. He was the one who told me about the true seers and what kind of deception some people used to appear like a seer.

"That was the main reason I changed my electives. I'm really glad I did. Arithmancy is so fascinating. I'm curious how Ancient Runes will be. And what kind of creatures Hagrid will show us today. I hope they are cool." He said, getting some chuckles from his classmates.

Ron accepted this. While he was a bit jealous of Harry's new wealth he couldn't really begrudge his best friend of his happiness. Harry had for the first time somebody he could really call family. He was really happy for him. It just seemed so unfair, that his family was so poor even if his father worked really hard at the Ministry. Unknown to Ron, Harry had already begun to remedy this situation.

* * *

Arthur Weasley was looking over some bills that had come in at the burrow. It was always the same. Money was always an issue at the Weasley's home. When he had applied for a job at the Ministry after graduating from Hogwarts, he had thought he could make a good salary for a living there. Ministry jobs were highly respected and as a pureblood he was accepted rather easily. But then with time he found out more and more about some prejudices towards his family.

The Weasleys had always been liberal in their views of muggles and their world. They didn't think the wizards were better than them. He especially was fascinated with the things that the muggles invented to ease their lives. Things that replaced magic. But sadly many other workers at the Ministry didn't share his views. They thought he lacked proper wizard pride. He was subtly discarded as the head of the Department of Misuse of Muggle artifacts. Any other Department head earned more than him.

His colleagues liked him well as a person, but the higher ups only belittled his efforts. With so many children Molly had been forced to stay at home to care for them. And only as Ginny had started Hogwarts she could have started working again. But who would employ a witch who had been out of job over two decades? Molly never regretted choosing to raise their children but the problems with money were a steady reminder of what could have been.

He opened the next letter. He stopped surprised reading the sender's name. What did Juneur Wizarding Technologies want? He never had any contact with them. He was fascinated with their research of ways to combine muggle technologies with magic, they were the basis of his old Ford Anglia after all, but he never contacted them. Well he would know if he read the letter.

His face grew pale when he was finished with the letter.

"Molly." he cried.

Molly Weasley came into the kitchen.

"What's the matter Arthur dear?" She asked.

"Read this please, I can't believe it" he said and held the letter for her to take. Molly took it and began reading.

* * *

_Dear Arthur Weasley,_

_A reliable source brought to our attention, that you are quite knowledgeable in regard of combining muggle technologies with magic. Our company, founded by Estelle Juneur in 1908, is operating in this field to improve the living standards of the wizarding community by fusing the best inventions of both worlds. _

_Our company has recently had a change in ownership and our new owner wants to have new ideas integrated in our products. So we are looking for outstanding wizards and witches in this special field of knowledge and you are one of those we would like to offer an employment._

_Our Department for the Development of Magical Daily Items wants to offer you a position as one of our Inventors. The salary is 2000 galleons a month with additional bonuses if a new product is introduced into the market. _

_We hope to hear from you soon Mr. Weasley and would be delighted to greet you as one of our employees._

_Yours sincerely_

_Howard O'Brian  
C__hief Executive Officer  
__Juneur Wizarding Technologies_

* * *

"Oh my god Arthur." Molly said overwhelmed.

"Yes I know it's incredible. The salary is double of what I earn at the Ministry and it would be working at something I really enjoy doing. I could proudly say I am working to develop our world. There are so many inventions made by muggles that would help us wizards immensely. Just a bit tweaking here and there and it would work."

Molly looked at her husband with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she knew he loved exploring muggle things and changing them to work for wizards. On the other hand he had a respectable position at the Ministry of Magic. But on second thought they had always held him back from advancing in the ranks. There were no illusions on her part that this would change anytime soon with Fudge being Minister. Even as purebloods the Weasleys were ridiculed for their way of thinking and for being poor. Why should they accept this, if Arthur was singled out by a well-known company to work for them for double his Ministry salary?

"I think you should at least go there and see for yourself what the job would involve Arthur. It is a great opportunity. The Ministry has been hindering you for years and if this is what you want to do, then do it. I will always support you. I know you love everything muggle related." Molly said.

Arthur smiled at his wife.

"What would I do without you Molly? You are an incredible woman. I know it was the best thing happening to me when I fell in love with you." He answered.

She blushed. He was really good at making compliments.

* * *

At Hogwarts Harry, Hermione and Ron made their way down to Hagrid's hut where they would start their first lesson of Care of Magical Creatures. They were chattering about the animals they would see. The only thing they regretted was, that they were having the class with the Slytherins. They met Hagrid and were led around an edge of the forest to a perch, where they looked around, but didn't see any magical creatures.

There was an awkward moment first as Hagrid had to tell everybody that they had to stroke the back of their books to open them. Harry, determined to make Hagrid's first lesson a success, stopped Malfoy from saying more nasty rubbish than usual.

"Be careful Potter, the dementors are coming for you." Malfoy jeered and he, Crabbe and Goyle pretended to wear hooded cloaks.

"Please Malfoy, how old are you? Five? If a child would behave like you are, I would understand, but you are thirteen. Don't you think you should show a bit more decorum? And here I thought Slytherins were cunning." He said shaking his head, getting laughs from his fellow Gryffindors while Malfoy left him furious how he was belittled.

While Harry was busy putting Malfoy in his place and coolly ignoring his taints because of his problems with dementors, Hagrid got the creatures. He came back with a dozen of bizarre beasts that seemed to be a crossbreed between an eagle and a horse.

"Those are Hippogriffs." Hagrid declared proudly. "Aren' they beautiful?" He asked.

Harry could see what Hagrid meant. After getting over the first shock, the Hippogriffs had a certain charm to them.

"Now come a bit nearer." Hagrid declared, after tying the Hippogriffs collars to the fence.

Nearly nobody wanted to get too neat to the Hippogriffs. Harry, Ron and Hermione however went a bit nearer.

"Firs' thin' yer have ter know about Hippogriffs is that they're proud bein's. Never insult a Hippogriff, it could be the last thin' yer do."

Most of the class listened intently except for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle who were undoubtedly planning how to sabotage the class best. Harry was cautious to keep those three in his view to prevent whatever they had planned.

"Yer always wait for the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yer walk towards him and bow and yer wait. If he bows back, yer allowed to touch him. If he doesn't bow, get away from him, 'cause those talons hurt."

The class looked slightly uncomfortable with this announcement.

"Right – who wants ter go firs'?" Hagrid asked.

The whole class backed away.

"No one?" Hagrid sounded disappointed.

"I'll do it." Harry said and stepped forward.

"Good man Harry, let's see how you get along with Buckbeak."

Hagrid loosened one of the chains and pulled a gray Hippogriff away from the others, then undid the collar.

"Yeh have to keep eye contact with him Harry. Hippogriffs don't trust yeh, if yer blink too much. Then yer bow and wait." Hagrid instructed.

Harry did what he was told and made eye contact with Buckbeak. He suppressed the urge to blink even if his eyes began watering and bowed to the Hippogriff. It took several seconds. Hagrid was getting nervous and came over to take Harry away from Buckbeak, when the Hippogriff bent his front knees and bowed to Harry.

"Well done Harry, well done." Hagrid beamed. "Now you can touch him."

Harry was not really sure, if this was the best thing to do, but he complied and carefully closed in with his hand to Buckbeak's head. He found the feathers at the top of the beasts head were surprisingly soft. He was happy for his accomplishments but then Hagrid went insane, or at least Harry thought he did. He told him to ride Buckbeak. Harry found himself sitting on the back of the hippogriff, looking for a way to hold onto the Hippogriff, because he suspected it wouldn't take it too well, if he pulled out feathers. Then it ran across the clearing and took off into the sky.

It wasn't like riding a broom at all, Harry found out. The wings of Buckbeak flapped and it was more of an up and down, but after some minutes Harry got comfortable and enjoyed the ride. The only problem he saw was landing. Harry heard Hagrid whistle for Buckbeak and sure enough the Hippogriff went down to land again. Harry lent back and tried to get as much of his weight as possible back, to not fall of Buckbeak.

He succeeded and got a lot of applause from his fellow Gryffindors. Then the others, inspired by Harry's success, became braver and teamed up with the other Hippogriffs. Malfoy was trying his luck with Buckbeak now, while Ron and Hermione practiced with a chestnut colored one.

Hagrid came over to ask Harry how he did in his first lesson. Harry assured him it was great, but he never let his eyes leave Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy had gotten Buckbeak to bow to him and was now patting his head.

"I knew this couldn't be this hard, as Potter was able to do it. You aren't really dangerous, right, you ugly feather ball?" He asked Buckbeak.

The Hippogriff didn't take this insult well and rose to his hind legs, ready to strike at Malfoy. But the attack never connected.

"_Protego!"_ Harry yelled, a hand pointing at Malfoy. He didn't have time to draw his wand, so Harry used his abilities in wandless magic to cast the shield charm.

Buckbeak's talons connected with the shield, but it held. Malfoy was quivering under the shield. Harry got Buckbeak's attention and managed to calm the Hippogriff down with Hagrid's help.

"How dump can you be Malfoy? Insulting a Hippogriff, when the teacher clearly told us all to not do this under any circumstances. Be glad, that I was watching and cast the shield in time to protect you. It would have been a shame to waste Madam Pomfrey's time with your whimpering. I really advise you to listen next time something is explained in class or it could backfire. While I would find it highly amusing to see you messing up a transfiguration on yourself" he added like an afterthought, earning laughs from his fellow Gryffindors.

Hagrid looked relieved.

"Ten points to Gryffindor for outstanding reactions in a dire situation and ten points from Slytherin for not listening to a teacher's instructions nearly resulting in an accident." Hagrid called, remembering the power he had as a teacher.

Harry found it really amusing. Hagrid being able to punish Malfoy and him getting rewarded for showing the arrogant Slytherin up.

"Harry that was amazing, how were you able to do it? You didn't have your wand out." Hermione asked.

"I don't really know, I just had to act unless Malfoy would get ammunition to give Hagrid a hard time. I just cast the spell. Must be a new ability I have. Can you be gifted to use wandless magic? Do you know Hermione?" Harry asked innocently.

"Oh yes, it is possible, but it is a rare gift. I have read about it in the library last year. Some really famous witches and wizards had this ability, the most well-known was Merlin himself."

"Cool. I never would have thought I could have a similar ability like Merlin. Perhaps that can help me finishing the dark annoyance." He said, looking at his hands as if he had just won the lottery.

Harry had fun pretending to not know about his abilities. He had to put up a good show for everybody, so Dumbledore didn't get suspicious. It was well reported, that new abilities normally tended to emerge under stress or total relaxation. Well stopping a rampaging Hippogriff would be a case of enormous stress he figured. He really would like to see Dumbledore's face when Hagrid boasted about Harry's new ability. The old coot would have to look pleased while fuming on the inside. Ha, more reason to celebrate. He would have to write his father about this.

The Slytherins were divided. On the one hand, they couldn't stand Harry, on the other hand he had just saved one of them and even the one he liked least. Pureblood honor required treating somebody this powerful with respect, but it was Harry Potter, Gryffindor's golden boy who had trashed Slytherin's achievements more than once. The loss of the house cup in first and second year was mostly his fault. So they decided to observe the Gryffindor. No reason to make a probably really powerful wizard mad. And Potter would be a political force in the future. Being the heir of the Noble and most Ancient House of Potter and the infamous Boy-Who-Lived. No, most Slytherins were too cunning for this.

* * *

**So that was it for this week. I will still update at the weekend.**

**Until then.**


	17. Advice from a Friend

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**I am too tired to write a lot this time, so just enjoy.**

* * *

**Advice from a friend**

Harry and his friends sat in the common room doing their homework. So far the day had been good for Harry. He had had fun in his new subjects, gotten an idea how to expose the traitor, showing Malfoy up and being praised by Flitwick for his results in charms. Yes it was nice to be him for once. He had already finished a letter to his father and sent Hedwig on her way. He had a suspicion that Malfoy would try to do something to get Hagrid into trouble, even if the near accident had been his fault completely.

He was mildly amused how Parvati and Lavender were talking about Professor Trelawney like she was a saint. Poor misguided girls. Ron was looking sour at having to do all of this work. Thankfully Hagrid didn't give them any homework, but McGonagall had given them a tricky essay about animagus transformation versus human transformation which had to be handed in on Friday.

Seeing Hermione taking up most of the space on the table with all of her books, Harry decided to talk to her in private. He wouldn't stand next to his friend and see how she was ruining herself with too much work.

"Hermione, could we please talk for some time in private?" He asked politely.

"Of course Harry. But it shouldn't take too long. I have much work to do." She answered.

"No problem, I think it won't take more than 15 minutes or so." He said.

They stood up, leaving a bewildered Ron behind and left the common room to find a more private place. Settling for an empty classroom, Harry stood in front of Hermione.

"Alright, I know you won't like what I am about to tell you, but I won't stand next to one of my best friends, watching how she ruins herself by being ridiculously overachieving. Hermione, you can't keep up with all the subjects you have taken this year." He held his hand up to stop her from interrupting him.

"I am not speaking about attending classes as I am really sure you have gotten some magical item that allows you to attend all your classes, probably when Professor McGonagall took you aside on our first day back. I am speaking about the loads of homework you are doing. For today you have been lucky as Professor Vector didn't give us any homework and obviously Professor Trelawney didn't either. But what will happen if this isn't the case? You have Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Charms on Mondays. Hermione that is too much. I know you are really intelligent and that you can work really hard, but don't destroy yourself."

Harry took a deep breath.

"Have you put any thought in what you want to do after you graduated from Hogwarts?" He asked.

"Not really, there are some jobs that could interest me, but I am not sure which one I will go for later on" she answered, wondering where this talk would lead her.

"Good, I thought so. Your strength is your determination to work very hard on every subject. But even you can't do everything. To write an essay properly, you have to do research and take your time to figure out what is behind the theory. Only then you can hope for high marks. I know you don't want to miss anything important in your education, but think about it for some time. Which subjects are unnecessary for your future?"

He gave her a minute to think about it. She had to understand this for herself and not be told what he meant.

"I don't know Harry, what are you trying to tell me?" She asked insecure because her friend had never before spoken like this.

"Alright an example. What kind of stuff did you cover in Muggle Studies today?" He asked.

"Well, typing machines. But I wondered why they were covering something really outdated as there are way more recent inventions in this department."

'Finally she begins to see something.' Harry thought relieved.

"Hermione, what I am about to tell you, will probably shock you, but I would be a horrible friend if I didn't inform you. The curriculum in Muggle Studies is severely outdated in all parts. They teach things that were true in the 1940's but not today. Uncle Orion took his time to look into the book lists for the elective subjects and he advised me what things could be useful in my future and let me then make my own decisions.

"I chose Ancient Runes, because I find wards and rituals to be intriguing. Runes are a core part of them and I want to be able to understand them. Arithmancy is interesting for analyzing spells and coming up with new solutions for some problems, also undoing protections around areas or objects. As I know, I will have to confront Voldemort one day, I want to be as prepared as I can to survive the encounter. Don't argue it will happen. I know roughly how I can destroy him, I can't tell you at the moment, but I promise I will when I have figured out how to do it exactly."

Hermione looked affronted. It didn't sit right with her that Harry kept secrets from her.

"But why? I will help you to figure out how to defeat him." She said hurt.

"Hermione, this isn't a question if I trust you, but as you don't have the ability to use occlumency, the ability to protect your own mind that is, it would put you in danger. And I want to avoid this as long as I can. I will help you and Ron to learn it, so I can tell you my secrets, but until then I have to keep my quiet. It is not that I don't trust you or Ron, because I trust you two with my life but I found out what my enemies are able to do this summer and I don't like it one bit. Someone could use Legilimency on you to steal the information or torture you until you talk. It is better to prevent this by not telling you everything at the moment.

"Where was I before I drifted away? Oh yes, electives which are outdated. As I told you the stuff they teach in Muggle Studies is severely outdated and you as a muggleborn witch don't have to take it to be informed. You know more about the subject than all the kids born into magical families combined."

"But it is interesting to study it from the wizard's point of view." Hermione argued.

"How long did it take you to finish the essay for Professor Burbage?" Harry asked.

"Nearly an hour; why?" She wanted to know.

"Simple mathematics Hermione. You need one hour to finish an easy first day essay. Add to this two other hours on other days when Professor Vector and Professor Trelawney also give you homework. That makes three hours. Normally the essays for Professor McGonagall take two hours, three if they are especially tricky and effort research. I don't know what Hagrid has planned for his classes but he will give us homework the next lessons, add another hour. Professor Flitwick usually tells us to read up on the things we learned that day in class and practice. Another hour at least. Added this makes a minimum of seven hours. Our days end at five in the afternoon normally and I know you don't have the free hours like me, so you have to do all your work after dinner. That means you have to work into the night every day Hermione to even be able to get all your work done."

He waited for her to process his points. She needed to come to the conclusion herself to accept it. He knew her too well to think just telling her what would happen, would be enough. When he thought she had taken in the last parts he told her he continued.

"True, we normally have to hand in the essays some days later, but this was only one day. You will break down in weeks and I don't want to see that. So please, be reasonable and drop some subjects like Divination, which is total crap for you to study as I can tell you, that you are no seer and never will be one. Additionally Professor Trelawney sounds like an actress who can't predict shit. All the talk about death omens every year, bad things happening to all of you, just deception. She makes it look mysterious so nobody really questions her."

He stopped to ponder something he had wanted to do after finding out what had happened in Divination.

"That reminds me, I have to talk to Neville next to get him out of that class. His confidence is already really low and with Professor Trelawney continuing to predict his death it will fall even further. And I know for a fact that Neville could be a lot better if he was encouraged to do so, otherwise he wouldn't be as good as he is in Herbology. It's the only subject he is at ease and it shows in his competence. Think what he could be able to do if he was encouraged in the other subjects instead of ridiculed. But back to your timetable."

Hermione was lightly confused about the change in topics but looked at Harry expectantly.

"Muggle Studies may be interesting to see from another point of view, but is it worth your health? You will get ill if you do this, trust me. You will be thoroughly exhausted every day physically and mentally. And I am rather sure they would let you take the O.W.L. in Muggle Studies even if you didn't take the class. Please Hermione, I don't want this happen to my friend." Harry pleaded.

Hermione was taken aback. She hadn't thought about it from this point of view. Was Harry right? She had the impression, that Divination was a waste of time. And the things Professor McGonagall had told them strengthened this opinion. And did she want to take an outdated subject if she knew everything about muggles, being born to two?

"Take your time to think about it Hermione. If you want to talk, I will be there for you. Thank you for listening to me. I can't make the decision for you, but I think it is my duty as a friend to make you see what could happen to you."

"No, I have to thank you Harry. You have given me some important things to think about. It is just, it is so hard to get a good job as a muggleborn. When I got my Hogwarts letter I was so excited. The possibilities I could have in this world were so unbelievable. But then I found out about the prejudices against muggleborns. Only if I am at the top of everything I could hope to make it into a decent rank at the Ministry for example."

"I know. And I intend to change some things when I get of age. I don't like a lot of things in the wizarding world, sending people to Azkaban without a trial for example." He added murmuring.

"I am the heir of some of the most respected and influential wizarding families Hermione and as much as I hate it, I am The-Boy-Who-Lived. I can't get away from this, but I can use it to better our world and push it into the next century. British wizarding society is falling behind the rest of the world and I don't like that. We will lose our best talents to overseas of we don't change our ways of thinking."

"How did you find out all of this?" She asked surprised.

"Uncle Orion has many acquaintances all over the world. He told me a lot of things. I decided that I didn't want to sit aside and let things happen. I want to do something. Make a difference. Voldemort only got as powerful as he was, because nobody really cared about the groups he attacked. The overall wizarding population outnumbers the death eaters by far, but nearly nobody dared to oppose him because they were terrified of what he could do to them. It is like in the history of Germany in the 1930's till the 1940's. The Second World War wasn't some stupid accident, it was planned methodically.

"Voldemort's methods are very similar to those Hitler and Grindelwald used. Rally your supporters until they believe everything you feed them with, use an existing scapegoat, go for those who nobody will miss first and then go for the bigger fish when they have lost their backup; push for power in the intent to change everything for the better, because only then people will help you in the beginning and when everything became a habit, get the big guns out and terminate those you see as lesser beings. Voldemort is as crazy as Hitler was. Only he has magical powers."

Hermione was impressed. Where did Harry's sudden increase in knowledge come from?

"Where did you learn all of this? It isn't part of what you learn in primary school."

Harry found himself caught. Well, this wasn't an important secret to keep, he could tell Hermione.

"I have gotten some extra lessons on history and history of magic Hermione. Uncle Orion was interested in a company who advertises lessons for home-schooled wizards and witches. So he ordered some test lessons and I took them to tell him what I thought about them. They were great, far better than anything Binns ever taught us. The stuff was presented in an interesting way and you were hard pressed not to want to really participate in the lessons. They use memories that can be viewed in a pensieve, a magical basin where the memories of a person can be seen from a bystander's perspective. I had three lessons on history so far, before the new term started. One was on goblin wars, one on the war with Voldemort and parallels to other wars in Europe and one on druids."

"That's sounds really interesting Harry. I'm impressed you remembered so much of it. Last year you had massive problems to remember the lessons here."

"There was a reason for it, I just can't tell you yet. Just know that it has changed and I will do a lot better in classes than before. So don't wonder if I suddenly begin to excel, because that will happen. Additionally to the lessons we have here I will take the pensieve lessons in History and Potions to make up for the lack of professional instruction. While you are able to at least cope with Snape, I am not due to his childish hate of my father."

Hermione looked like she wanted to protest his dismissal of a teacher but even she had accepted that Snape wasn't a very good teacher and his dislike for Harry was infamous.

"I can do nothing to change that but I can look somewhere else to get at least the theoretical base to do the potions he wants us to brew in his classes. I hope you don't take it the wrong way and feel your position as the best student threatened."

"Honestly Harry, I would never feel threatened if you take your studies serious. I only would be miffed if I had the feeling you were cheating in your work."

"No, I don't think I will. I prefer earning my marks fair and square. Even if I doubt Snape will ever see it this way." He sighed and Hermione chuckled.

"You are probably right. He will be hard to convince that you are not a dunderhead as he so readily labeled you."

They laughed and decided to return to the common room. But before they left the classroom Hermione had one last question.

"Harry, how did you come to the conclusion I was using some magical thing to attend all my classes?" She asked.

"Well, it was somewhat obvious in Transfiguration. You were as subdued as the others when you were just fine when we left Arithmancy. So there had to have happened something I had missed. When you told Professor McGonagall that you had had Divination while I had spent the last double lesson with you in Arithmancy, it had to be something like that. You don't need to tell me what it is. I think you probably had to promise to not tell anybody."

"You are right, I had to promise that. Thank you for understanding Harry. It will need some time to get used to the new you. By the way, why did you decide to use contacts instead of glasses?" She asked.

"My glasses were always broken, so it would be easier, I thought. Additionally I think it looks good. Uncle Orion teases me that I soon will have to beat girls away with a stick. I think he is exaggerating. Like that would happen."

Hermione giggled. Even if Harry had matured over the summer he sure was still clueless in some regards. The prediction of his uncle could become reality really soon.

* * *

Tuesday went by really smooth. Ancient Runes was interesting for Harry and Professor Babbling was a nice teacher. Harry really liked the fact that she didn't get excited when she called his name during roll call. To Harry's surprise Neville had also chosen ancient runes. He said it was because he wanted to know more about the protective rituals you could do by using runes. Harry suspected it was in regard to his parents' condition. Harry began during that lesson to start getting Neville to believe more in himself. Hermione knowing what Harry wanted to do was supporting him and as this was a new subject they got Neville to relax and do really well for a first lesson.

History of Magic was, as always, a waste of time. Harry, having given up on listening to Binns, took out his alternate history book and began reading, even most of the Ravenclaws ignored Binns and did their own thing and they were known to be extremely studious. The Hufflepuffs had taken to sleeping like the Slytherins and the rest of the Gryffindors. Yes History of Magic was good for one thing, catching up with missed sleep.

Outside the classroom, Hermione questioned Harry about his behavior.

"Why didn't you even try to listen to Professor Binns?" She wanted to know, slightly pissed.

"As I told you yesterday, I do it because it is completely useless. No normal student can keep up with his monotone drowning on and on about normally interesting historical topics. I prefer learning from the books as they are way more interesting. A good teacher could probably make the lessons enjoyable. I really look forward to continuing my pensieve studies at home. Binns is wasting our time, nothing more and I am done with wasting time. You should try reading other history books in class. I mean, we always have had to read up on the things he taught. So it is nothing new and I already learned ahead. And in case Binns tells us something interesting, well I am sure it is in some book. Perhaps you could use an auto dicta quill to get our notes Hermione, then you had the advantage of Binns droning on and the much more interesting books."

"You learned ahead?" Ron asked surprised.

"Yes, I can't wait for our first Potions class. I really prepared for this. It will be hilarious to see Snape getting annoyed because he can't find something I haven't read in the third year book. He won't be able to make me look like an idiot this year and I also learned some really sweat spells to stop the Slytherins from sabotaging my potions. They will get a nasty surprise if they should try." He grinned evilly.

Ron seemed pleased at this. Showing up Slytherins and in Snape's class no less was something to look forward to.

Herbology with the Hufflepuffs was as always a nice class. They were taken to more interesting and dangerous plants this year and Harry paid close attention. As always Neville was the one to shine in this class. With Herbology being the only subject for Neville to truly show his abilities, everybody was only too happy to let him answer most of the teacher's questions.

* * *

Until next weekend


	18. Defense and Potions

**Hello I am back with the new chapter. I hope I didn't make as many mistakes in this one as in the past ones. I am looking for a beta but until I have one, you will have to be patient. **

**Thanks to all those who left me reviews for the last chapter. I hope you like this one as well.**

**As always, I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Have fun.**

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**Defense and Potions**

Wednesday morning Harry got his first letter from Sirius. He was very happy about it. As he didn't want anybody to know about this he put the letter into his pocket and left it to read it later. Hermione and Ron seemed a bit confused about this, but didn't say anything. Harry didn't feel bad about it though. They also didn't share their letters from their parents with him.

Charms flew by with Professor Flitwick being overjoyed by Harry's progress. He had been told by Hagrid, that Harry had managed to do a wandless shield charm to protect Malfoy and told Harry to come see him on Friday evening, so he could give him some pointers how to further develop this ability. Harry happily agreed. By being offered additional tutoring, he didn't have to figure out a way to ask Flitwick inconspicuously. He had had a lot of fun Tuesday morning during breakfast, as he had observed Dumbledore closely monitoring him. The old manipulator didn't seem happy with him. Too bad for him.

* * *

The next lesson was the one Harry had been waiting for the most. Defense against the Dark Arts with Moony as his teacher. He still had to figure out a way to tell Moony that Sirius was innocent. He, Ron and Hermione got seats near the front as they were all eager to get most of the lesson. They placed their books, parchments and quills on the tables and waited. Some minutes later all their classmates had arrived and taken seats. Then the door opened and Remus Lupin entered. His robes looked somewhat shabby and Harry was annoyed, that due to the prejudices at the Ministry, it must have been hard for him to find a good paid job, even if he was really good at his stuff.

"Well, good morning class. First let's get introductions over with. I'm Remus Lupin and your new teacher in Defense against the Dark Arts. From what I have seen in the notes of my predecessors you haven't had a structured education in this subject, I intend to change this. First, put your books away, we will start with something practical."

The class was somewhat excited. They only had ever had one practical lesson and that was when Lockhart had let pixies loose. Not the smartest thing to do.

"This year we will study various dark creatures. Not the more dangerous ones, they are part of what the higher classes will study, but the most basic ones, who can also give you a lot of problems, if you don't know how to deal with them. First, who can tell me what a boggart is?" Remus asked.

Hermione, to nobody's surprise, Harry and Parvati had their hands up. Remus told Hermione to answer.

"A boggart is a shapeshifter. He resembles what the one confronting him fears most. Nobody really knows what a boggart looks like as he immediately takes the form what the wizard or witch fears."

"Right Hermione. A boggart will take the form of what you fear most. There is an easy spell to deal with a boggart. We will come to that part later. Does anybody know what will destroy a boggart?"

The same hands were up. This time it was Harry's turn.

"A boggart is destroyed by laughter." He answered.

"That's correct Harry. Laughter destroys a boggart. You have to make the boggart, who will take the form of your greatest fear, appear like something you could laugh about. So what would be an appropriate way to deal with a boggart?"

He let them think about it for a minute before he asked Dean to answer the question.

"I think to not be alone. If the boggart had two people standing in front of him, he won't be able to scare both as they both fear different things most."

"Very good Dean. A boggart who has more than one opponent will be confused. I have once met a boggart who tried to scare two people at the same time. It was hilarious. Imagine a half mummy and a half fire crab. The fire crab constantly set the mummy's bandages on fire."

The students were laughing.

"The spell to defeat a boggart is _riddikulus. _It takes concentration though. Saying the incantation is only half of what it takes. You have to be prepared to face a boggart. We will get into practice soon. I am searching the castle for one so you can practice dealing with it. Until then I want you to take your time to think about what you fear most. And be honest with yourself. Then think of a way to make it look funny. Pair up with another student and exchange ideas."

They began to move in the classroom and Harry ended up being partnered with Neville, while Ron and Hermione teamed up.

"Alright Neville, what are you afraid of most?" Harry asked.

Neville looked at the ground and whispered something. Harry couldn't understand him.

"Uhm, sorry Neville, I didn't catch that." Harry said.

"Professor Snape." He said a bit louder looking ashamed.

"Hey, no need to be ashamed Neville. He can be really scary and how he has it out for you I can really understand you. Damned greasy git." He added more quietly.

Neville chuckled at Harry's comment.

"Well, now we only have to find a way to let greasy git look funny and not scary. Any ideas?" Harry asked, wanting to get Neville to open up a bit.

He was way too insecure. Always believing that he would fail and then failing like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Damned whoever instilled this fear of failing in him.

"I don't really know Harry. Perhaps if he had another hair color or wore hilarious clothes." Neville suggested.

Harry snorted.

"Oh yes, that would be good. Imagine a Snape with bright pink hair, topped by a big women's hat in a clashing color." He brought out laughing.

"With an old fashioned dress, best with lace, a big red handbag and high heels." Neville added also laughing.

"Oh this will be so good, I can't wait to see you facing a boggart Neville, that image is priceless." Harry added.

The two needed some time to get down again. The other students had similar problems.

"OK Harry, now we have covered my greatest fear, what is yours?" Neville asked.

"Let me think." Harry said.

First thing to come to him was Voldemort, being returned to his full power, but then another thought came up to him. One that made his insides freeze up.

"A dementor." Harry answered truthfully.

"Oh, that's really scary." Neville answered.

Lupin heard Harry's statement and was surprised. He had expected something else. But he was really impressed by Harry. For the thing to fear most being fear was extremely wise. Especially for a thirteen year old boy.

"Hm, how could you make a dementor less frightening and looking funny?" Neville pondered.

"I don't think stealing the cloak would be good. A naked dementor seems only more frightening." Harry said shuddering remembering the hand.

"You are right. Perhaps if you made it really fat. Like unmovable. Then you tie it onto a stump and light fires all around. Make it sweat." Neville suggested.

Harry pictured a cloaked Dudley sweating a bull. He chuckled.

"That's great but I know some better additions. The fat dementor gets a blond curly wig like Lockhart's hair. Then I tie it to a muggle home trainer, where it has to run on a self-moving machine trying to escape a bunch of hungry dogs, who try to bite it's fat ass." Harry described his idea, sending both him and Neville to the ground holding their sides with laughter.

Remus couldn't help but grin at the impression. Yes, it would be funny to see how Harry transformed his boggart dementor and Neville his Snape boggart.

* * *

Harry sat in the boys' bedroom on his four poster bed, curtains drawn to have some privacy to read Sirius' letter. He was curious if his father had already figured something out about how to deal with Malfoy because of the Hippogriff incident.

_Dear son,_

_I'm really glad the start of your new electives was so good for you. I am very proud of your quick reactions when the idiot Malfoy decided to insult a Hippogriff. Even Snape wasn't so stupid. Don't worry too much about Hagrid getting into trouble. While Lucius will certainly try to get the Hippogriff executed, I know some ways to prevent this. I am already busy building up my reputation as the highly respectable Comte de Jarjais. If the git should get into position, that Buckbeak is put on trial, I will have a lot of political clout to throw against Malfoy._

_I also have some good news. Amelia Bones has sent notice via the goblins that she is preparing a fair trial for me and will act as soon as she gets undeniable proof that I am innocent. That means nothing else than Peter. I liked your idea to use McGonagall's class to unmask him. But be patient. I know I sound like a hypocrite as I was a hothead myself but I have paid dearly for it._

_From what I heard from some of the highly important people I have met in the last two days, you don't believe how many invitations I got until now, really, people are just interested in getting more possibly powerful allies, well, we can use that to our advantage, he, he, Fudge has some serious problems at the Ministry. Amelia is rallying all her supporters to get the dementor problem solved. And she has many supporters in this._

_Concerned parents just dislike the thought of their children being in the company of dementors. And Rita with her article, got them to make sure Fudge knows their opinion. Poor Minister Fudge can't understand why. _

Harry laughed at the sarcastic comments about the Minister for Magic.

_Prongs and Lils send their greetings and their love. I was told to tell you how proud they are of you. Especially Lils is over the moon for your wandless shield charm. Well, she was a Charms prodigy. You following in her footsteps has to thrill her._

_I look really forward to see you at the weekend. Try to stay out of detention until then. If you get detention, earn it for doing something really incredible. Sorry, the marauder in me can't resist. I will send Kreacher to pick you up at ten, so make sure you are alone by that time._

_Love Pa_

Harry smiled happily at his letter. It was so great to have someone who wrote you letters and told you he was proud of your achievements. Without Sirius he wouldn't have had anybody he could tell about the shield charm he had produced, nobody he could ask for advice regarding Hagrid and Buckbeak. Harry folded the letter and put it into his trunk to keep it safe.

* * *

The class sat silently in the dungeons. Harry was positively nervous. He had learned as much as he could for potions and was really sure he could answer Snape's nasty questions this time around. Just then the door flew open and Snape strode in.

"Well, as it seems everybody is present." He said with a short look over the room.

"Today we are brewing a Shrinking Solution. Potter, tell me three core ingredients of this potion." He snapped, sure Harry would be unable to answer.

"Daisy roots, shrivelfig and caterpillars Professor." Harry answered calmly.

Snape looked surprised.

"Well it seems our local celebrity finally decided to at least look at the first chapter of his potions book this year. What color is the Shrinking Solution supposed to look in its finished state?"

"Green sir." Harry answered.

"What kind of reaction does the potion create?"

"It will shrink the recipient of the potion into a former state. For example if you fed a toad with some of it, it would turn into a tadpole, a dog would turn into a puppy. Depending on the amount of potion used the results can vary. The more potion, the more expressed are the results. Though too much can result in severe poisoning and should be treated by a healer or potions master immediately."

To say the class was stunned, would be the understatement of the year. How was Harry Potter, who always struggled with Snape's questions able to answer everything correctly? Harry meanwhile was enjoying the seething faces of the Slytherins, especially Malfoy, which had hoped for his humiliation. Bad luck, he was done with being the cause of amusement for them in potions.

Snape was taken aback. Never would he have thought that the brat would actually have prepared for class. He normally just arrogantly thought to get by without preparation. Must be a one time achievement. He wouldn't be able to repeat this.

He continued asking questions about the syllabus of the third year potions class, went over to stirring techniques, ingredient preparation and was inertly seething that Potter managed to answer everything correctly. He knew he couldn't ask thing from outside of third year. The know-it-all Granger would recognize it immediately and perhaps go to Minerva. She had done that before. He didn't need the ire of the deputy headmistress.

"Finally some intelligence seems to have been found in your brain Potter. Three points to Gryffindor." He said.

This stunned all students. Snape was giving points to Harry? Some of the Gryffindors tried pinching themselves to see if they were dreaming. Of course any normal teacher would have given Harry many more points but for Snape, who hated Harry with a passion, it was a miracle.

By the end of the lesson normality had gotten back as Snape took away a total amount of twenty points from Gryffindor, so Harry's three points didn't really matter. But Harry looked forward to showing his father these memories. He had produced a perfect Shrinking Solution, helped Neville preparing his at an acceptable level and prevented some Slytherins from sabotaging his potion by adding wrong ingredients.

The Slytherins in question were still wondering why the hell they had thrown the things intended for Harry's cauldron in their own and therefore ruining their own work. Oh yes, wandless and unspoken magic was great in Harry's opinion.

* * *

**That's all for this week. So you next weekend. And volunteers for the beta post, please write me a message.**


	19. Found Out  New Allies  New Marauders

**Hello everybody, here is the new chapter, not beta read, my new beta, DustBunnyQueen and I need to work out how to get my e-mails over. But I checked it as best as i could, i hope the next one will be beta checked then. I just didn't want to let you wait any longer for the chapter.**

**The usual disclaimer: I don't own anything of Harry Potter :(**

**Enjoy.**

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**Found out – New Allies – New Marauders**

It was finally Saturday and Harry had had a nice breakfast with his friends in the great hall. Now he just had to disappear for some time without them getting suspicious. Well in Ron's case that part was rather easy. He just had to say he wanted to learn for some hours. Neville, whom he had made a point to include more into his group of friends, which hadn't been a big problem as both Ron and Hermione liked the shy Gryffindor well enough, would respect his privacy. In Hermione's it was harder. She would want to help him or keep him company. So he decided to say he had to learn some of his additional material and would be gone for some hours.

"Why can't you learn with us?" Hermione asked.

"It's easier for me to be undisturbed. I mean I will spend some hours in the pensieve and I prefer if nobody tries to interrupt me. And if I were to keep you company in the library or the common room, others would start asking questions. And I don't want to alert the teachers to my new learning materials. Besides I think it would look suspicious to some if I disappeared in a basin for hours. And if the pensieve is in an open place some people could do something I don't want to happen. I just hate being stared at and when they whisper behind my back about things they don't understand. I had enough of that last year when nearly everybody thought I was the heir of Slytherin." Harry said bitterly.

This stopped Hermione for good as she remembered all too well how depressed Harry had been.

"Until later, I will find you." Harry said and left the great hall.

* * *

He went down the corridor that led to the entrance to Gryffindor tower. Kreacher would pick him up behind a curtain that hid a secret passageway. His fathers had both told him how they had written the marauder's map where all of Hogwarts was shown. Harry really wanted to have this map, but neither knew what happened to it. It had been confiscated by Filch when they were in their final year. But Harry didn't want to sneak into Filch's office. The time in there last year was more than he ever wanted to spend there.

He came upon the Weasley twins, who were behaving strangely in his eyes. They were probably planning a new prank. Well, he would see it when they pulled it. He greeted them and was about to pass by them, they were bent over a piece of parchment, probably with notes for their new prank, when they suddenly hoisted him under his arms and went down the corridor with him.

"Fred, George, let me down. What has gotten into you?" Harry asked.

One of the twins quickly cast a silencing charm around them and none of them bothered letting Harry down. Harry found they were leading him where he was supposed to meet Kreacher.

"So Harrykins, Fred and I have a very interesting question to ask you." Harry supposed it was George asking.

"What the hell do you mean? I don't like being kidnapped like this." Harry said annoyed.

"Well, you see, this is a very special piece of parchment. When we were looking for a good way to make Snape's life a lot less boring, we saw a very interesting thing."

Harry now looked closer at the parchment. No, it couldn't be. Did the twins find the marauder's map? How? If it was the map he was done for. The map showed his true name.

"How did you find this?" He asked stalling for time to think.

"Well, thing is, Fred and I, when we were just cute firsties and completely innocent." Harry snorted, yeah, the twins being innocent at any point, quite believable.

"Yes, maybe more innocent than now would be best to describe it." Fred went on with the story.

"We were found out by Filch when we let some dung bombs loose in the charms corridor. He was busy with filling out one of his reports." George told him.

"Such a waste of good parchment if you ask me, but anyway, we saw this parchment stick out of one of his drawers, the one where he holds the confiscated items. So like every good prankster..." Fred said.

"...we went for it. Fred threw some more dung bombs and I nicked the parchment. This little piece of parchment has taught us more about the castle than all the teachers combined." George explained proudly.

Harry knew he was busted. It was without a doubt the marauders map.

"May I have the parchment for a moment?" Harry asked, deciding to go into the offence.

If the twins saw the inventors of the map as their idols, he could probably trust them somehow. George gave him the map.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Harry said and tapped the map with his wand, making the castle appear under the stunned eyes of the twins.

Harry looked over the map and saw his dot. Harry Potter-Black it said. Well, no point in denying it now.

"I think you are wondering about my change in name?" he asked matter of factly.

"Blimey Fred, we have seriously underestimated little Harry here." George said, getting an indignant shout from Harry.

"Yes, who would have thought he would know about something so infamous like the marauder's map?" Fred agreed.

"How could I not? My father was one of the four who made it." Harry informed them.

"You are the son of a marauder? Which one?" George asked eagerly.

"Prongs is James Potter, my father, Moony is funnily Remus Lupin our new Defense teacher, Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew, the traitor, that sold my parents to Voldemort, it was not Sirius Black, who by the way is Padfoot and has adopted me some days ago." Harry told them.

The twins were flabbergasted. Never would they have suspected this.

"So Harry, if he is innocent, why was he sent to Azkaban for twelve years?" Fred asked.

"Because the Ministry is a bunch of idiots, the Minister for Magic being the supreme idiot. Pa was sent to Azkaban without a trial. Everybody should think that he was the secret keeper for my parents, so that Voldy and his merry band of death munchers would go after him and my parents and I would be safe. They chose Pettigrew to be the real secret keeper as they thought he would be the least likely choice. Sadly he was a death muncher and betrayed them."

Harry had balled his fists at this.

"When Hagrid took me from my parents' destroyed house on Dumbledore's orders to bring me to mum's sister to live there, Pa went after the traitor. He didn't want to hand me over to Hagrid, but he had no choice. If only he hadn't gone after Pettigrew then, I wouldn't have had to grow up there. He cornered Pettigrew and the rat accused Pa of being the traitor, blew up the street behind him, cut his finger and transformed into his animagus form, a rat and disappeared into the gutters. Sirius found everything totally hilarious and began laughing. That was how the aurors found him. He didn't get a trial at all, Crouch just sent him to the dementors.

"That is one reason I fear dementors so much. I have heard what they can do to you. I have had enough horrible experiences in my life to make our whole year faint if they were confronted with them. So I learned the patronus charm at least the beginnings. Pa found out where the traitor has been hiding and that was the reason he escaped. He wanted to protect me from him, because in case Voldy comes back, the rat is in perfect position to strike again."

Fred and George looked at each other, both sporting a serious look for once.

"Scabbers!" They said at the same time, coming to the obvious conclusion.

"Yes. I will reveal Scabbers as Pettigrew in front of McGonagall as soon as I can get a chance. I thought about a lesson in Transfiguration when we learn the animagus revealing spell. I will hit the rat 'on accident' and McGonagall gets a big surprise. With McGonagall's vote, which won't be questioned as she has a very good reputation, there will be no way the Minister can worm his way out of this. They have to clear Sirius of all charges and I can finally live with him openly, not in disguise."

"So let me get this straight..." Fred began. "Sirius Black is innocent. He is Padfoot, a marauder. Another marauder betrayed your parents and faked his death as Scabbers, worming his way into a wizarding family to keep informed when his old master returns. To get the dunderheads in the Ministry to admit the made a mistake you need Wormtail as proof together with McGonagall's word."

Harry nodded. The serious faces of the twins changed into delight.

"Harry this has to be the best prank ever pulled." He shouted delightedly.

"We will gladly help you pull one over the bigots at the Ministry. As you may perhaps know they have treated dad lousy all those years, just because he likes the muggles so much." Fred

"He adores their ways to solve problems and would like nothing better than to spend his time to find out how their technology works." George

"We kind of inherited his research liking, just in the field of jokes." Fred

"Yes he really was an inspiration working on his Ford Anglia." George

"Pity the car is lost to the wild in the forbidden forest, best work of dad so far." Fred

"But the sneakiness dad put on to avoid mum finding out what he really did until he was nearly finished was impressive." George

"We had to get this character trait from somebody. What we want to say is, we Weasleys have been seen as lower than normal wizarding families and we are sick of it." Fred

"Yes. you probably have found out about this, seeing as how Ron is really embarrassed if somebody mentions our poverty or how Ginny was sad because all she got last year were second hand things." George

"We know we have to stand on our own feet as soon as we leave Hogwarts as mum and dad won't be able to help us get started." Fred

"We will never start at the Ministry like Percy the prat wants to do." George.

"Merlin beware. We would try to prank the hell out of all the pureblood faggots" Fred

"Would be really funny, but wouldn't be well advised for making career there, so better scratch the thought completely and turn to use our strengths..." George

"Inventing joke products to start a joke shop after school. That's our goal. This will be our first field test and I can't wait for it. I am sure we can improve your plan." Fred.

A sharp crack was heard.

"Master Harry?" Kreacher asked.

Harry laughed at the stunned faces of the twins when Kreacher had suddenly appeared.

"Fred, George, may I introduce you to Kreacher? He is the Black head elf and has been in the service of the family for many decades. He and Pa are renovating our house while I am at school so it will look more appropriate for our needs. It was too dark before. Kreacher, these are Fred and George Weasley, they have found out about my adoption from the marauder's map and want to help us prove Pa's innocence and catch the rat." Harry explained.

"It's very nice to meet young masters. Every friend to the house of Black is a friend to Kreacher. Is Master Harry ready to go home?" Kreacher asked.

"Yes I am. Fred, George, please tell nobody about what I told you. Dumbledore has his own agenda and I am not sure I like it, he has not been the best in making decisions how I should live. He was the one who placed me with the Dursleys and I found out more, I just can't tell at the moment. I will be gone for some hours, so it would be great if you covered for me if somebody asks."

"No problem Harry. We will start planning. We have a Ministry to prank after all." George said.

Harry nodded, took Kreacher's hand and the elf disapparated them.

* * *

Sirius waited impatiently for his son to arrive. He had planned a lot for today, but not his pensieve lessons. He had prepared a surprise for his son. Sirius also wanted to start Harry on some physical exercises. He had always thought it was stupid that in the wizarding world there were so few opportunities for sport. The only real demanding one being Quidditch and there your broom did most of the work. No he intended to introduce Harry to some sports and let him decide which one he liked best.

He heard the familiar crack of Kreacher's reappearance and went down to the entrance hall where they had arrived. He saw Harry looking around and he was really happy when his son's face lit up when he saw him.

"Pa!" Harry cried happy and ran to Sirius.

He flew into the open arms of his father. Sirius spun Harry around to avoid being sent onto the floor and hugged his son.

"Hey son, how was the first week?"

"Really great. I must show you my memories of the first Potions class. Snape's face was priceless. I totally let his attempts to make me look like a fool backfire."

"That's great. I'm looking forward to it. Have you already eaten or do you want something?"

"No I'm good for the moment. I just had breakfast with my friends. But something happened just before Kreacher came to get me. I found out where the marauder's map is." Harry told Sirius.

"Really? That's great where is it?" he asked.

"The Weasley twins have it. They nicked it from Filch's office when they were first years. Regrettably they saw my new name on it and confronted me about it. I had to tell them, that you adopted me and that you are innocent. Fred and George took it really well and they want to help us pranking the Ministry. Old grudge for belittling their father all those years. By the way, has Mr. Weasley agreed to meet the CEO of Juneur WT?" he asked.

Sirius needed a moment to sort his thoughts. The twins knew and were ok with it from what Harry said. It would probably best to meet with them to make sure they would really keep everything quiet and to point them in the right direction where they could start their pranks. Well, nobody could say he neglected the encouragement of the next generation.

"I don't know if he has, I haven't heard anything from Juneur yet. But I think I should meet Fred and George in private to make sure there won't be problems. This has to be handled the right way so we can be sure that Peter doesn't escape. But if they are serious about their offer to help we could really use them. Pranksters always have the best ideas because they think out of the box."

"Yes that would be great. What are we going to do today? I only have some hours before Ron and Hermione get too suspicious. I told them I wanted to learn on my own to not be called a weirdo when I am in the pensieve and that I don't want the teachers to find out about my extra learning. It helped to mention the whole heir of Slytherin thing from last year. But it won't do forever." Harry explained.

Sirius grinned.

"Dobby." he called.

The elf appeared with a crack.

"Yes Master Sirius?" He asked happily. "Oh hello Master Harry. Kreacher has gotten you from school then." He said.

"Yes, hello Dobby. What do you want from Dobby Pa?" Harry asked confused.

"Have you prepared the things I asked you Dobby?" Sirius asked not answering Harry's question.

"Yes Master Sirius. It's all ready in the training room."

"Thank you Dobby. You can go back to your work then." The elf bowed and left.

"You see Harry, I have thought of the things you will need to defeat Voldemort and came up with lots of things for you to learn. There is just one problem. If you only train, you could forget why you are doing all of this. True, the magical abilities and contacts will help you in the future, but I don't want you to lose all of your childhood. So I decided that today we are going to enjoy the weather and visit the London zoo. I promised you to make a family trip and with the danger of dementors and all the training before school we never got to do it.

"As you have some hours for yourself, I think that would be sufficient. I will just let you take the pensieve with you for school and you can study the things we should have covered today sometime tomorrow or over the week. You can call Kreacher or Dobby to get it back here when you are finished with the lessons. I want you to relax and have fun today."

Harry's face lit up. His father hadn't forgotten about his wish. He was so happy. He impulsively hugged him. That was one of the first pleasant surprises he had gotten in his life. Sirius smiled and held his son. He was glad to be able to make his son happy by such simple means as a zoo visit. He really had to get the Dursleys back for what they had done to his boy. Well, what were lawyers for? He wouldn't need to get his hands dirty when the Dursleys had done that themselves. He had to maintain his image as the good one after all, even if he wanted nothing better than to hex them into the next century with the most evil curses his family library had to offer.

* * *

Harry had the best day of his life. Sirius took him to the zoo by side-along apparition. They got their tickets without problems as Sirius was trained how to use muggle money properly. Harry could visit all the animals he wanted without fearing of interference of his stupid cousin. He looked around, smiling when he saw the lions that were lazing in the September sun, the monkeys chasing each other around their big outside perch, the elephants being trained by one of the zoo employees. He really liked the daily presentation at the dolphinarium, the things the dolphins showed were fantastic.

For lunch Sirius used the prepared food he had asked Dobby for. Harry thought it was really good. They had some sandwiches, meatballs, fruit, juice and some candy Dobby and Kreacher had made the last week. For the first time in his life Harry felt like a normal boy. He could spend time with his father, see some interesting animals, get delicious food at a picnic and just forget that the most evil wizard of all times would one day come after him again. For these hours he was just Harry.

* * *

Harry returned to Hogwarts an hour and a half before dinner would start. He thanked Kreacher and asked him to put the pensieve into his trunk to keep it safe. Kreacher bowed and disapparated. Harry went looking for his two friends. He really wanted to see them now. He went to the Gryffindor common room first only to find that Hermione had somehow managed to coax Ron and Neville into accompanying her to the library. So Harry went there.

The three were at a desk with some potion books around them. Harry thought they had to be doing their essay for Snape. He sat down next to them.

"Hey, did you have a nice day?" He asked innocently.

"Hey Harry. Where have you been all this time?" Ron demanded to know.

"I told you at breakfast that I would be studying for hours Ron." Harry answered.

"Hours? Well, I didn't know your idea was that you meant more than three hours. It's nearly time for dinner. You missed lunch."

Harry chuckled. It was obvious Ron would be opposed to the thought of missing a meal.

"I had some snacks with me, don't worry. And I had more than one lesson to do, so it was only natural to be absent for so long."

"What did you study today?" Hermione asked interested.

Harry was prepared for this. He had done a quick overview over the next lessons, he would be doing in the next days so he could give some information to questions.

"Well, today it was inventive uses for defensive spells, usual charms and what was very interesting, ways to combine magic with technology. I tell you Britain is so far behind the rest of the world in this area. By the way, Ron, your dad was really interested in muggles, right? Did he ever mention Juneur Wizarding Technologies to you?" Harry asked.

Ron was taken by surprise and thought about it.

"Yes I think so, perhaps once or twice. Why do you ask?"

"Because it was fascinating to learn about the ingenious ways the wizards found to include muggle technology into their lives. There was this witch Estelle Juneur who lived at the beginning of the twentieth century. She was born in France. She was the pioneer in combining techniques the muggles developed with magic. I think the WWN is one of the most well-known accomplishments of this. It was really interesting. I think it would be great if there were more ways to do this." Harry explained.

Neville, Ron and Hermione looked intrigued. They obviously had never heard about that topic. Neville especially looked interested. Perhaps because his grandmother had raised him so secluded.

"That sounds really interesting Harry. It would be really great if in this way wizards would get to understand muggles better and we could use some of the inventions that are really useful in the wizarding world." Hermione agreed eagerly.

They talked for some time, until it was time to go up to the tower to get ready for dinner.

* * *

**That's it for now. Hopefully until next week.**


	20. Beginnings of Revolution

**Hello everybody. This is the first beta-read chapter of my story. Thanks a lot to my beta DustBunnyQueen for checking the chapter. I know it was a lot to read.**

**I also would like to thank all my reviewers, I am happy to see that you like my story that much. **

**Disclaimer (have to do it): Harry Potter belongs not to me but JKR.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the previous ones.**

* * *

**Beginnings of Revolution**

It was the first staff meeting of the new term. Dumbledore sat in his seat and was interested in how the students were faring this year, especially with the dementors around. It had been one month since the term had started and it was time for an overall feedback.

"Well, I think it will be good to start with our utmost concern, how are the students faring with the presence of the dementors around the school?" He asked.

Dumbledore hated that the Ministry dared to go against his wishes in this case. As much as Sirius needed to be recaptured, to ensure that Harry stayed under his control, he didn't like the interference with his power at the school.

"Well, thankfully we didn't have any major trouble so far, but that is only because we give out chocolate constantly with the meals." Poppy told him.

"Well, yes that was a good idea to initiate this as a precaution directly at the start of term feast, Poppy." Dumbledore said smiling appreciatively.

"Thanks, Albus, but it wasn't really my idea to start with. It was Mr. Potter's after Remus gave him and his friends some chocolate at the train after they had the meeting with the dementor." She said.

"Oh, that's interesting. Well, Remus, then I must give you some credit, too, for inspiring Harry." He said benevolently.

He wasn't concerned yet. Harry only had had the idea because he had just seen how people got over the after-effects of a dementor's presence.

"Hagrid, how are your classes coming along? As you are teaching on the grounds, did you have any problems with the dementors coming too close?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, thankfully not, Professor Dumbledore. But ev'ry time I go to Hogsmeade I have ter walk pas' them. Awful things, they remind me too much of the time I was 'n Azkaban las' year." Hagrid shuddered.

Minerva gave him an encouraging smile.

"At least they keep to their assigned positions." Dumbledore said reassured.

"Next point, the development of the students; Remus, what impression do you have of the students? As your subject has been the one that has been taught with the most interruptions, I would like to start with your report."

"Well, Albus, I think there is much work to be done. From what I have discovered, nobody learned anything last year. Lockhart obviously only advertised his books with the students and they had to learn on their own. There is much to work on in all the years except the first years for obvious reasons. Even if Quirrell was a bit more knowledgeable, he didn't seem to have really taught them anything very useful. I really have my work cut out for me." Remus sighed.

"I see, yes. Sadly, we didn't have much selection of qualified Professors for the subject in the last years. I'm glad that you know your subject, especially the dark creatures. I'm sure the students will benefit from your knowledge."

Dumbledore looked around and, except for Severus; nobody seemed to be against Remus' presence.

"Well, Pomona, how are the greenhouses?" Dumbledore went to the next Professor.

"Growing well Albus, I have to say, young Mr. Longbottom is a great help. He volunteered to help me and to learn more in his favorite subject and I am really pleased with his abilities. He will make a fine Herbologist one day, I'm sure." She stated.

Snape sneered at the mentioning of Neville. Everybody had heard of the way Neville had turned his boggart Snape into a laughing stock. The colorful, and embarrassing, way he had transformed him was the top theme for weeks. He had taken a lot of points from Gryffindor after this incident and had been extremely unpleasant to Neville and Harry. Not that Harry gave him many opportunities to pick on him. The damn brat had learned some sneaky tricks over the summer.

"Good to hear. After what happened last year, I want to be able to create antidotes to most possible occurrences."

The others nodded. Dumbledore was pleased with himself. It was so easy to manipulate others if they believed you were the one with the best plan for everybody. Some kindness here, some help there, and they felt indebted to you. Yes, it was easy to guide the others for the Greater Good. With him being the one who defined what the Greater Good was of course.

"Well, what about the others? Severus, anything I should be aware of aside from melting cauldrons?"

"No, I don't dare to hope, but so far Longbottom hasn't managed to melt a cauldron. I believe my Slytherins are betting when it will be happening. I heard some rumors. No wonder, the boy is such a dunderhead. Potter still thinks he is better than everybody. He is as arrogant as his father was. The first years are coming along as expected. At least no security risks this year, but no promising talents either."

Albus nodded, as it was expected. He was complaining about the awful students. Well he was an important tool to keep Harry down. He couldn't let the boy begin to excel. That would be a problem to his plans. An excelling Harry would become too independent. Well, he would prevent this. And he would take care of this Comte de Jarjais, he had been living with. Harry would return to the Dursleys in the summer.

"Good, Filius? Anything special?"

"Yes, Albus, we have quite some impressive muggleborn wizards in the new first years. Thomas Fraser and Bill Hopper are showing real talent at Charms. They will be great one day. The O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students are also coming along really well. They won't have problems passing their exams if they keep going like they are. I think we will have some very good results this year. I expect really great performance by the Weasley twins. Even if they mostly joke around, they have quite the talent in my class."

"Ah yes, I enjoy their ideas most of the time. Thanks, Filius. Septima, how are the new third years in your class?"

"Very good, Albus; I have no problems with inter house rivalries or such. They are a good bunch to teach. They are all really eager to learn and participate in a constructive way. It's too early to really tell anything about single students. I have only seen them for a month."

"Understandable. Minerva?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Albus. Some students seem to have forgotten a lot over the summer holidays, but that is normal for the start of term. They will come around. Nothing out of the ordinary" She reported.

Minerva kept her calm. She had spoken with Filius and Hagrid to not boast about Harry's enormous progress. Hagrid had asked why and she had told him that Harry wasn't one to like the fame he got. He was more a child who enjoyed his success in the middle of his friends. Hagrid, knowing that Harry hated his fame and wanted to escape from this, understood and promised not to tell how well Harry did in his classes. After all, Dumbledore knew everything that went on in the school. No need to tell him.

Filius suspected something more behind Minerva's behavior and cornered her in private. Minerva told him there had been irregularities concerning Harry and that it would be better not to let it get out what the boy was able to do. As only Filius, Remus and Minerva had the subjects where Dumbledore would put his eye upon; it was safe to say that for now they could keep Harry's performance a secret. The others could tell that Harry did well, but had no real comparison for the increase in ability as they hadn't taught the boy for years. And Severus would rather cut his tongue than praise Harry.

The meeting went on and they were able to finish quite early.

* * *

Harry was happy. Despite the dementors at the gates, he had a good time this year so far. He was getting good marks in his classes, Snape was getting frustrated that he could suddenly answer his questions and turned good potions in, Malfoy had been pranked in a combination effort by him and the twins, nobody had found out how it had been possible that he was turned bright pink in the middle of the great hall at lunch. It had taken four days for the effect to cease. Malfoy had been a git and deserved this. He had gotten his father to get Buckbeak tried for the attack.

No one messed with Harry's friends and got away with it. The plans for "Ministry Misery", as the twins had dubbed the planned prank, were going well; and turning Malfoy pink had been only the first test. While it would free Sirius if they turned Peter in, it wouldn't satisfy their desire of revenge.

Sirius had spoken with Fred and George the weekend after they had found everything out. The twins and Sirius had hit it off immediately and were now in constant correspondence through owl post. Sirius had a lot of good ideas about what he wanted to do to the idiots that had destroyed his and Harry's lives.

Harry and the twins also found out that Oliver Wood had gotten a desperate streak in his training for the first match of Quidditch. He was in his last year and he wanted the cup badly. The other members of the team agreed with him in this goal and gave everything in their training sessions. They worked like a well-oiled machine. Slytherin would go down was everyone's opinion.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at the opposite side of Fred, George, and Ginny at breakfast in the Great Hall. When the post owls arrived, Harry spotted Hedwig with a relatively big parcel. He was curious what his father had sent him. Then he spotted the Weasley's family owl, Errol, following after Hedwig. He was slightly lingering in the air. Hedwig landed gracefully on Harry's arm, after he had held it out for her, Errol crashed into Ron's plate and toppled his glass over.

Fred took the letter from Errol's leg when Harry freed Hedwig of the parcel, stroked her gratefully, and offered her some bacon; which she gratefully took. He looked at the attached letter and smiled. This was a book he had asked his father to get to help with his wandless magic. Professor Flitwick had recommended it in their training. He was really getting the hang of wandless magic. He had asked the Professor to keep the amount of his abilities a secret as he didn't want to be the center of attention again; he had enough of that already. Flitwick had readily agreed.

"That is impossible!" Fred shouted out.

Harry looked at the twins, Ron, and Ginny, who sported equal disbelieving looks on their faces.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked concerned.

"Dad, he is…" Ron sputtered.

"I can't believe it." Ginny murmured.

Harry had a suspicion what this was about. If he was right, the life for the Weasley family would be getting better very soon. He looked at the twins to get confirmation for his thoughts.

"Dad has a new job." George finally brought out.

"Really? Has he been promoted at the Ministry?" Hermione asked, knowing that Mr. Weasley worked for the Ministry of Magic.

"No, I can't believe it; this is what he always dreamed about doing!" Fred said grinning now.

"You're right!" Ginny said now also grinning.

"Come on; tell us what you are talking about." Hermione said getting irritated.

"Dad has been offered a job in the Development Department of Juneur Wizarding Technologies." Fred began explaining.

"That's the company who combines magic and muggle technology, right?" Hermione asked for confirmation.

"Yes it is. Dad always was really fascinated by the things they were able to come up with." Ginny said.

"And Dad has accepted their job offer." Ron told them.

"The best thing is he will earn double the amount of money there in a month as he would at the Ministry. Plus any bonuses he will get for new developments he was involved in that are successful on the market." George concluded.

"That's great. I'm happy for your family." Harry said honestly.

"Yeah, it is. I can't believe it. I don't understand how mum was so willing to agree with this." Ron said.

"Well, she always supported dad in his decisions, except when she thought they were utterly nuts." Fred stated.

"Which they sometimes were, but nonetheless, we all know how the bigots at the Ministry have ridiculed dad for years and stopped any promotion he would have earned. It is the best thing that could have happened for him. He gets to do what he likes, is better paid and now can show what he is really able to do." George agreed.

"You know what this means George." Fred said grinning evilly.

"Yes, we can now plan without getting dad in trouble with dumbass Fudge." George said.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"We would tell you, but we are not in any position to reveal it at this moment. Let's just say, Percy will be very unhappy with us."

Harry mentally agreed with this. Percy, who wanted to make career at the Ministry, would not appreciate his brothers' plans to prank the Ministry. But they deserved this and more. And he would gladly deliver the blows for more than just pranks. He would thoroughly humiliate the Minister. It had its perks to be the heir of five noble houses.

"What is this commotion about?" Percy asked who had shown up at the table.

"Ah, hello Perce. We just got a letter from mum and dad. Dad has a new job, starting November, 1." Fred informed him.

"Really, has he been promoted?" He asked eagerly.

"No." Ron answered.

"He hasn't done anything stupid to get demoted has he?" Percy asked concerned.

"No." Ginny answered.

"Has he changed departments?"

"No." Hermione answered.

"What the hell has happened?" Percy asked annoyed.

"Dad has been offered a job in the Development Department of Juneur Wizarding Technologies and he has accepted it. He'll earn double his current salary and get bonuses for every invention that is successful in the market." Fred told him, grinning brightly.

Percy was shocked. He didn't understand this.

"But why? Why would he give up a highly respected job at the Ministry?"

"Are you really this dense? Dad has been ridiculed there for years, just because he likes the muggles so much. He has been denied any sort of promotion because of this and has been shoved into the most ridiculous department at the Ministry. He is getting paid the lowest amount they can justify without breaking laws. Isn't it normal for him to want to get out of there? To get a better paid job, where his talents are acknowledged? I would have done it too, if I were in his position." George said irritated.

"But, the Ministry is where our society is ruled." Percy added.

"A society that denies the majority of their members' equal chances to rise in the ranks." Harry said, having enough of Percy's worshipping of their government.

"A Ministry that allows dangerous creatures around a school where helpless children are taught.; that speaks justice as it seems fit without caring about their own laws. That ignores the abuse of a child that they hail as their savior. That thinks muggleborns are lower beings. That treats magical creatures horribly. That makes the lives of those different from them a living hell. Do I need to go on Percy?" Harry asked.

Percy looked at Harry as if he had grown a second head.

"I am serious Percy. First, we have dementors around us, dangerous creatures class 5. Do you really think they care about the instructions of the Ministry when there are none of their members around to reinforce their orders? We are severely outnumbered here. The only ones able to produce proper patroni are the teachers. Perhaps one or two seventh years if they are related to aurors or some other people fit in defense against dark arts. I know personally how hard it is to make a real patronus. And I am more advanced than most seventh years in this area. All I can produce is some strong silver mist. How many students are here at Hogwarts, Percy? I would guess four hundred. We have perhaps twenty adults at the school. There are over one hundred dementors outside. Do you really think that, perhaps, twenty people who are able to conjure a patronus are enough to keep everybody safe when the dementors decide to go out of Ministry control?

"Second, I have checked the papers from 1981, and have done some research about the trials of potential death eaters after the fall of Voldemort-stop flinching, I won't stop using a name that is only a fiction of a mad man. If you like, you can call him Tom Riddle, which is his true name. He told me himself last year, when I met his memory from the diary."

Harry observed Ginny's reaction at the mention of Tom. She paled, but seemed to be ok otherwise.

"He was the one who started all this nonsense of muggleborns and muggles being lower than trash. There have been others, but he drove it to new heights. And the same beliefs that got us in the war haven't stopped. There still are many pureblood families that think they are better than others. Rubbish, I say. Only the things somebody does, decide the person's value. Every human being is worth the same. A rule even the muggles got way earlier than us.

"There were many who were thrown into Azkaban without a trial. It is law in magical Britain that everybody has to get a trial. But no, the Ministry, especially the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, thought they were above the law. I don't like the thought of aurors being as bad as death eaters."

By now a small crowd had formed around the group and it wasn't only Gryffindors who listened to Harry. There were many Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and even the occasional Slytherin.

"Why would an auror need to use the cruciatus curse? Why the killing curse? Aren't they trained to get the evil wizards by other means? The only unforgivable curse I can understand to be used in very limited situations is the imperius curse. If used in very restricted situations you could get a culprit to hand over his wand peacefully and could safely apprehend him. Or you could stop a suicide by stopping the one trying to do it. The other two are just bastardized from their original purposes so that they now are really dark. It's hard to think that both curses have originated from healing, even the killing curse."

Many recognized the difficulty it was for Harry to speak about the curse, as his parents had been victims of it.

"You really think the killing curse and the cruciatus curse could do something good?" A Hufflepuff asked.

"The original versions yes they could. Take the origin of the Avada Kedavra for example. It was developed to give incurably ill people a painless death. When the possibilities of the healers were not as developed as they are today, people sometimes had to suffer for long periods before death came as a saving. Healers were the only ones allowed to use the curse to spare those who couldn't be cured a painful death. Those are the curse's origins. Do you think that was a dark art?" Harry asked calmly.

Many people shook their heads. Most of them didn't even know the origin of the curse, only that it was forbidden and had a life sentence at Azkaban if it was used on another human being.

"What about … the cruciatus curse?" Neville asked quietly.

Harry understood Neville's hesitation. After all he lost his parents due to the curse.

"The origin of the cruciatus curse was developed to check nerve damages. The healer would send a low powered pain inducing spell into the patient and if some areas reacted stronger or weaker to the pain, he could administer treatment easier. Bites from poisonous animals were a common source for this, as a lot of them have neurotoxins."

Seeing the dumbfounded faces of the people around him he decided to explain it easier.

"Poisons that numb the nerves or make them react stronger. Most of the more common antidotes to poison are more recent developments. Even today our healers don't know everything about all the possible cures to the poisons out there. And a few hundred years in the past they knew even less. So the best they could do was locate the problem on the body of the patient and treat it where it hurt or numbed. The cruciatus curse while based on this idea is a hundred times worse and instead of locating nerve damage it produces it. It truly is an unforgivable curse.

"But there aren't that many spells that are truly evil. Magic in itself isn't only light and dark; it is how you intend to use the spells. Ron managed to knock out a mountain troll in our first year, using _wingardium leviosa. _If that had been a human, it could have been dead when the troll's club crashed onto its head, but the spell is taught to first years."

Many people looked astonished at Ron who they hadn't known had done something that impressive as a first year. Ron blushed at the attention, but was very pleased nonetheless.

"Next point on my list; I find it troublesome that nobody in the wizarding world even cared to show up to check on me while I grew up. I mean, even my teachers at primary school knew something was amiss. They tried to involve the authorities once, but they did nothing. Then they resolved to do what they could to at least spare me the beatings of my cousin at school. And my so-called aunt and uncle said nothing. They encouraged Dudley to treat me like shit. And I only found out about being a wizard on my eleventh birthday, when Hagrid personally delivered my letter for Hogwarts, since I was not allowed to read it, because they wanted to beat the magic out of me. They hate everything magical."

Many had disbelieving looks on their faces. They were always taught how great Harry Potter was. Now they learned he had lived a horrible life and at his relatives for heaven's sake. How could the Ministry neglect even checking up on the hero of the wizarding world? Many Ravenclaws promised themselves to check on this. Especially the Harry Potter books that now made no sense at all. Where did the authors get their information from?

"What enrages me most is that we are taught at Hogwarts, that there is no difference in our heritage. We are equal as long as we have the ability to use magic. And what happens once we leave school? Those of us who are muggleborn are denied jobs that would be appropriate for their talents. I mean, a lot of the muggleborns here are really good at school. They deserve to get good jobs. But the Ministry policy is to push them into low paying jobs or give the jobs in question to lesser qualified purebloods. How is that fair?"

Many of the muggleborns in attendance were furious hearing this. Why should they learn as much as they could, if they were denied equal chances at success by their own government?

"To be fair, there are many at the Ministry who don't think like this. From what I have heard, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is very fair and treats all her subordinates equally, be they pureblood, halfblood, or muggleborn. She also dislikes injustice. Several of the halfbloods working there are more or less on friendly to indifferent terms with muggleborns and some of the purebloods also. But those are not in the positions of power. There we only find those heavily prejudiced pureblood fanatics."

"And how do you think this could be changed Potter?" Asked a Slytherin. "It's the traditional way our country has been lead for generations. Why do you think it is a bad system?"

"I don't have anything against traditions as long as they don't discriminate others who have the same gift as those who had the privilege to be born into a magical family. I am, in fact, a pureblood myself. Yes, I know everybody thinks I am a halfblood, but my mother was actually a victim of the wars against Grindelwald and Voldemort. Grindelwald had targeted her family and brought it to near extinction. Later, in the early years of Voldemort's rise, the remaining members of the family declined all offers to join Voldemort and were hunted again. Only my mother survived as an infant. Probably the Death Eaters simply overlooked her or somebody had hidden her really well. We don't know what really happened, it has been at least thirty years, and it will be hard to find out the truth. She was found by muggles and brought to an orphanage, where her muggle parents adopted her.

"She came to Hogwarts, thinking she was a muggleborn witch, proud of it actually, excelled in all of her studies, especially Potions and Charms and was about to have a great career; if not for some idiots in the Ministry who disliked the thought of muggleborns being in positions of power. Tell me, how can you tell a pureblood apart from a halfblood or a muggleborn? Nobody could do it for my mother until she did an inheritance test at Gringotts, shortly before she married my father. And don't we celebrate a muggleborn wizard as the greatest sorcerer to ever live? Why ridicule them now? Magic is magic."

Many were stunned by this argument. He was right. Nobody could tell them apart just by their looks.

"What do you mean the greatest sorcerer of all times was a muggleborn?" A sixth year Slytherin shouted, disbelievingly.

"Merlin." Harry just answered, shocking the Slytherin in question into silence.

"Which family was your mother from?" Another Slytherin wanted to know.

"The Boldon family." Harry replied.

This got many surprised outcries. All the purebloods from important families knew the importance of the Boldon family in the wizarding world, and many were asked by those who didn't know about it, but could tell from the reactions of their comrades, that they were really high up in society.

"Here's another example. I was raised by muggles too. While I am a pureblood, I never knew about this world before I got my letter, does this make me lower than other wizards? I am the heir of more than one noble and most ancient house and I don't think that we should make differences between us. Hell, before my uncle taught me this summer, I never knew how I was supposed to treat members of important wizarding families. By the way, I'm sorry if I have insulted someone because of my lack of knowledge in wizarding customs." He added as an afterthought.

"So, you think we could find a balance between those traditions that are good and have strengthened our society and those new developments that seem to work well for the muggles?" A Ravenclaw girl asked him.

Harry smiled at her. Many of the witches in attendance melted looking at his smile, Ginny being one of them.

"Yes, that nicely sums up what I would like to do. We have lost so many talented witches and wizards in the war against Voldemort, we have to do something so it can't happen again if another maniac rises. I mean, Hogwarts is supposed to be one of the best schools for magic. We can use what we learn here to better our society. We can still cherish good traditions while we make new customs that benefit everybody.

"I like the thought of celebrating important magical days, like summer solstice and winter solstice, where there are powerful old magics influencing our lives. I like remembering the great developments our ancestors achieved. Why should we be ashamed of them? They helped us grow our world. I can fully understand everybody who is proud of the achievements their families have made and strives to follow their footsteps.

"The things I dislike are when those who have been born privileged only show off their families' wealth and don't do anything to be worthy of the respect they demand; if they only use their family's influence to harm others. We are all magical. We should try to see the benefits each of us can give to our society without just casting good ideas aside just because they haven't been thought of by those of "better blood"."

"I think we could start with acknowledging the worth of other magical races like the goblins, the centaurs, the house elves, the giants, and others. Victims of werewolves are not to blame for their fate. I have learned from my uncle that there is a very good potion called wolfsbane. When a werewolf drinks this before the full moon, he is capable of retaining his mind and just waits until the moon goes down again. And they only have this problem once a month. The other time they are normal humans. And they didn't decide to become werewolves. They were bitten and forced to change. I only have no sympathy for those werewolves who actively try to infect more people with Lycanthropy. They are despicable. I have read about the war against Voldemort and how he used Fenrir Greyback to threaten his opponents."

Harry let the thought sink in, as many regarded werewolves, as foul creatures. Then he continued his speech. He had really gotten into this. He wanted to make more people see what possibilities they had. They were the future of their world.

"Would it really be that hard to show some respect to such faithful creatures as house elves? I mean, they really like looking after humans. They would not be happy to be set free, most of them that is. It would be a disgrace. And they like to be challenged. I know how happy it makes the house elves my uncle Orion has if they get a challenging task. But, and I want to address especially those of you who are purebloods or heirs to old families and know of house elves, would it be that hard to thank them for good work? To smile at them and let them know we appreciate their efforts? To treat them kindly? I don't think so. We don't have to really do much there and could gain a lot. As far as I am concerned, a happy house elf would do everything to help his master. And house elf magic is powerful; I mean they can apparate inside of Hogwarts which is impossible for wizards and witches."

Harry thought he had convinced some of them. It was really just a little thing to do. It didn't cost them anything but a bit of attention. That was manageable by everyone. And he really disliked the treatment house elves got by most wizards.

"You're right; this is a perfect example where we can combine the tradition of having house elves as our servants, as they like it, but changing our world for the better. I think we are just too accustomed to the ways things are, that we overlook the obvious in some cases." Earnie McMillan said.

Many nodded their heads.

"I think we should start looking up the laws to make sure what the current situation is. There has to be books in the library about this." A Ravenclaw sixth year boy said.

"Yes, and we can write to our families and see if they can get us more information." A Hufflepuff fifth year girl agreed.

"We can build groups for each topic we find should be changed and work on ways to improve things." A Gryffindor fourth year said.

Soon, a Ravenclaw fifth year boy had pulled out a piece of parchment and they collected their ideas, bouncing ideas against each other.

At the staff table, where Dumbledore was absent today, a lot of teachers were happy to see how students of all the houses sat together and made plans to improve the wizarding world. They would observe and give a helping hand when needed, but they were looking forward to the results of this new development.

* * *

**That's it for now. I will post the next chapter as soon as my beta and i have finished with it.**


	21. Dementor Attack

**Hello everybody. I am back to my normal release day of the week, Sunday. This is largely thanks to my beta DustBunnyQueen, who managed to get fifteen pages corrected in time.**

**Disclaimer: I only play in JKR's sandbox.**

**Have fun and write me more of those great reviews.**

* * *

**Dementor attack**

Sirius sat in a comfortable armchair at the Rawthorn residence. The patriarch of the Rawthorn family, Frederick Rawthorn, had invited him over to learn a bit more about the "new public face" as he had called him. Well, this wouldn't be the last time that a wizarding family wanted to know more about the man who suddenly jumped into the center of public interest. After all, he returned Harry Potter after the boy had fled from his relatives. And Harry Potter was always of interest in the wizarding world.

Sirius knew how to play the views of the important families. He didn't even need to manipulate them; He just had to be polite, respectful of some of the better traditions, as he called them, and discuss his own opinions on how the wizarding society could profit from incorporating some things the muggles had come up with.

"You're a very interesting man, Orion." Frederick Rawthorn said, sipping his tea.

They had decided to go with their first names. After all, both were interested in a beneficial relationship with each other. The Rawthorn family was well respected in society and Orion de Jarjais had the connection to Harry Potter, a boy who would be one of the major players in their word in the future.

"I try to, Frederick. I think it would be boring to be just like everybody else." Sirius joked.

"Certainly. I've followed the articles the Daily Prophet has published during the last month and have recognized that many of them mention your name or that of your ward Harry Potter. While I can understand that many people are interested in the boy, as he was the one who freed us from You-Know-Who's reign of terror, I find it interesting that so little is known about him and, in addition, you."

Sirius enjoyed such discussions. Frederick Rawthorn was a former Ravenclaw and not somebody who leapt at silly rumors.

"Well, as it's now a well-known fact, Harry has grown up with muggle relatives of his mother, Lily. Against the will of Lily and James, I would like to mention. They had named others to take care of their son in case something happened to them. I don't know why Professor Dumbledore, who I found out, was the one to place Harry with Petunia Dursley, thought it would be appropriate to isolate Harry from his heritage. What I know is that Harry has been abused by the Dursleys. His cousin was allowed to beat Harry up whenever he wanted, Harry had to work for his living there, and only got enough to eat to not alert the neighbors of massive child neglect.

"All the chores in the house were his to do as soon as he could properly walk. Harry told me what he had to do. Nothing that would be a real problem in itself, but nothing a small child should be forced to do. His bed was in the cupboard under the stairs and if he accidentally used magic, he was always locked up in there without food or light for hours or days. I've already hired some lawyers to prosecute those despicable excuses for human beings for their crimes."

"That is truly despicable. I'm glad to know Harry won't return there. And I share your opinion, that it's questionable that Professor Dumbledore placed the boy there. While I can understand his desire to protect the boy from the fame he had gotten, and prevent the boy to be spoiled by the public, things could have been arranged otherwise. Not all wizard families would have let the fame of the boy go to their heads. Many would have been able to raise him properly without spoiling him rotten." Frederick said.

"I know. I don't think Professor Dumbledore was aware to what kind of fate he condemned Harry to when he left him there. It's one of his flaws, to believe everybody is somehow good. While for some this might be true, a woman who has hated her own sister for having a gift she hasn't won't be a good guardian for her nephew who would be sure to have the same gift as his mother." Sirius agreed.

Mentally he knew that Dumbledore had been aware of Petunia's attitude, but he could hardly blame the man publicly. No, the better way was to get people to question Dumbledore's decisions before agreeing with the man. If people built their own opinion, much would be gained. Dumbledore was a sly man. He had built his reputation over decades. It would take time to discredit him enough for people to see his manipulations. For the moment, it would have to be enough to get Harry out from under the man's manipulations; and for that he needed allies.

"Yes, probably; it seems Professor Dumbledore is getting old. Well, he has fought in many wars on the side of the light and it's only natural for him to make some mistakes. But in this case he should delegate his duties to someone younger. Nobody would mind it. I mean, he has done enough. He could just retire and enjoy his life. Perhaps remain as an advisor for Hogwarts, but he has so many political positions that it can't be good for him at his age." Frederick said.

"I think you're right. But from what I have learned, he is too stubborn to let the younger generation take over. It will take time for him to acknowledge that he isn't the only one able to lead the light." Sirius replied.

"Perhaps you're right, but we should prepare to lead our country without his help. He can't live forever. But now, I would really like to get to know more about you, Orion. What is your profession?" Frederick asked.

"I don't have a set profession at the moment. I once learned how to be a warder and am quite good at curse-breaking due to this experience. But my family encouraged me to learn more than one thing." Sirius said.

Truth was, he had learned all he could to prepare to fight against dark wizards, just to spite his parents who were so involved in the dark arts. He had learned nearly every branch of light magic, and some gray parts. Not many people knew this, but Sirius was very intelligent. His immature behavior only encouraged them to underestimate him. It had helped him fight Voldemort's death eaters.

"I'm also quite capable in dueling and speak some foreign languages and those of other magical races."

"One of them being Gobbledygook, I presume?" Frederick asked.

"Yes. My father made it a subject I had to learn to be able to understand what the goblins, who take care of our money, are speaking about. He was really cautious with money."

That much was true. Orion Black had been the most suspicious bastard you could have imagined. His sons had mandatory lessons in all things he deemed important for a Black to know. It hadn't been fun growing up with all those lessons.

"I see. And are you teaching Harry those abilities also?"

"Some of them. He's learning Gobbledygook because he asked me if I could teach him. He really wants to learn all the things he can about the wizarding world. And he's decided he wants to better those things he dislikes. I have to admit, he doesn't have the best outlook at the British wizarding community, due to his past two years of experiences. Thankfully, he isn't someone to hold a grudge and act out. If he sets his mind on something, he won't stop until he achieves his goal. I really think the Minister is in for some unpleasant surprises in the near future." Sirius couldn't help but smirk at this.

"Why do you think this?" Frederick asked.

"Do you know what the content of the third year Defense against the Dark Arts classes is?" Sirius countered with his own question.

"Dark creatures of lower strength, if I remember it correctly, why?"

"Yes it's. Harry and his classmates' first dark creature they encountered was a boggart. What do you think Harry's boggart turned into?"

"My guess would be You-Know-Who at full strength." Frederick answered.

"Close, but not right. His boggart turns into a dementor." Sirius explained, secretly enjoying the stunned face of the man before him.

"Oh my God; and Fudge has placed over one hundred of them around Hogwarts to recapture Black." He said with a pale face.

This would be a feast for the press if it ever got out, Frederick realized. With as much public standing as Harry had as The-Boy-Who-Lived, he could very well be the downfall of Fudge. Hell, he was the heir to one of the most influential noble houses. When he reached adulthood, he would be in the perfect position to really change the wizarding world. An intelligent decision had to be made to not enrage a potentially powerful ally or enemy. Harry Potter could turn into both, depending on what he thought you were supporting. The ways that he wanted to change, or the changes.

"I'll think about what you've told me so far, Orion. It seems the public view that has been portrayed by all those books gives an inadequate picture of Harry Potter."

"Of course it does. How could it not? Harry has never been asked to give interviews, thankfully, but as 'nobody in the magical world cared about him', like he sees it, how could they know what kind of person he is? All the things that are in those books, are inventions of authors who don't know what they write about. I read some of them. Hilarious. Harry is not happy with all the nonsense that has been written about him. At least some of the history books only printed the known facts, that he was the reason for You-Know-Who's fall. Well, another job for the lawyers."

Frederick nodded. This man was no joke. He really cared about Harry, from what he could see. And he wouldn't let anybody mess with the boy's life again.

* * *

The time Harry had been waiting for had come. Due to difficulties with Dumbledore interfering with the plan to reveal Peter to McGonagall, they had decided to wait until Dumbledore would leave for a conference of the International Wizarding Community in two weeks. But today it would be the start of the Quidditch season. Gryffindor against Slytherin. Harry really looked forward to the match, even if the weather conditions were horrible. But he was smirking at the thought of Malfoy looking like a drowned dog. The blond had been awful the past weeks, always trying to get Hagrid into trouble in class.

Harry knew that Malfoy had gotten his father to accuse Buckbeak of being dangerous and the fools at the Ministry were buying it. Well, they would see what they got angering the Boy-Who-Lived and his friends. Yes, Sirius was achieving good results with all the nice invitations for tea he got. If those fools only knew.

Oliver Wood stood in front of his team and observed everybody. They were the best, and certainly no storm would diminish their chances at the cup this year. Before he could send everybody out, Harry stopped him.

"Oliver, what do you think of water repelling and warming charms on all of us? I mean it's not forbidden to use them in such conditions. And I doubt the Slytherins will think of something like this. I'm rather sure they would have cheated their way out of the match if they had any excuse, but they're not smart enough to use the rules to their advantage. If we were playing Ravenclaw things would be different."

"Harry, that's brilliant. Alright, does everybody know the charms?" Oliver asked.

He got nods from all of his team members. They did the charms on each other and then walked out to the field. The noise of the storm drowned everything else out. Not the best conditions to find the snitch, but Harry would find it before Malfoy did. The bastard would be humiliated like never before.

The team captains shook hands and the game started. Harry was furiously flying around on his Nimbus, looking for the tiny golden ball. The time went on and the only consolation he had was that Malfoy looked worse for wear than him. Then he was signaled to come to the ground. Oliver had called for a time out.

"What is the situation?" Harry asked.

"We're leading by 110 points. But it would be really good if you found the snitch soon, or we play into the night." Oliver explained.

"I'll try. Do the charms still hold?" Harry wanted to know.

"Yes, but perhaps we should renew them just in case. It would be bad if they gave out when we were in a heated phase of the game." Oliver suggested.

Everybody agreed and they renewed the charms, and then took off again.

Harry scouted the whole field for the snitch, it had to be somewhere. Then, finally, he saw the tiny ball ten feet above him. He pulled his broom upwards and raced towards the snitch. Malfoy, who had seen him shoot skywards, was behind him, trying to stop him from getting the snitch. Then he felt the chill. He heard the rattling breath.

'No, not now.' He thought desperately.

He mentally thanked his father for insisting he wear his wrist wand holster just in case something happened during the match. Harry focused his thoughts on his happiest memory, the adoption ceremony. Just before he had it clearly in his mind, he reached the snitch and reflexively caught it in his left hand. He saw Malfoy had dived towards the ground when he had noticed the dementors. Harry switched hands holding the broom, and now had his right hand free with his wand in it.

"_Expecto patronum_!" He yelled, and bright white mist shot out of it, stronger than ever before.

Harry thought for a moment he could make out some kind of animal in the mist, but he was racing towards the ground, trying to get to safety. Then he had to stop. There was more than one dementor, there were dozens. Damned, he wasn't strong enough yet to stop them all. He tried to concentrate on his happy memory, but the amount of dementors was too much. A female voice screamed inside his head. Then, as if somebody had pushed a rewind button, he could hear something else.

"Lily, take Harry and run, it's him, I'll hold him off!"

Harry heard something else, cruel laughter and then, "_Avada Kedavra"._

"Please, not Harry, have mercy. Take me." She begged.

"Step aside, stupid girl." He demanded.

"No, not my Harry, have mercy, please let him live, take me instead." She pleaded with the man.

"Step aside, I said."

A moment of silence. Then again the cruel voice. "_Avada Kedavra"._

The high scream of the woman.

"So small, and yet such a danger to my plans. But no longer. Tonight, the prophecy will end. _Avada Kedavra"._

...

Those in the stands were gasping at what was happening. They had seen Draco Malfoy turn around instead of following Harry Potter further in the hunt of the snitch. Then everybody felt the icy chill of the dementors coming close and the teachers had sprung into action to protect the students. Many called forth patroni and all of the students who knew how to cast one, did as well, even if many only managed to conjure silver mist.

Then a bright light erupted in the air which brought the attention of the crowd to the scene. Harry had also attempted to produce a patronus, and for some moments it seemed to work. He was headed to the ground until some dementors cut off his escape route. Harry's patronus vanished as he was surrounded by dozens of dementors; and then he fell.

The students screamed, fearing for Harry's life, but before Harry could hit the ground, three other spells connected with his body. His fall slowed down and those near the teacher's box could see that the Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout had pointed their wands at Harry and were levitating him slowly to the ground. Then a powerful silver patronus was unleashed and directed towards the dementors. They saw Dumbledore with a face full of fury directing the patronus. The dementors fled. Even they didn't want to be in the presence of a furious Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey sat in her office in the infirmary. Harry Potter had just been brought in by Minerva. Again. The boy definitely had some kind of bad luck that attracted all kinds of trouble. Well, this time he wasn't at fault; the Ministry was. The poor boy. She was glad that Minerva, Filius, and Pomona were able to save his life.

Minerva had left the infirmary to speak to her house. It was necessary, after all, they all had felt the effects of the dementors. Perhaps now the Ministry would see how foolish it was to put dementors around a school. But she really doubted it. Then someone entered the infirmary she didn't recognize. It was a dark haired man who had a worried look on his face.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" She asked with her no-nonsense voice.

"Hello, my name is Orion de Jarjais and I'm here to see Harry. I'm his guardian and was informed that there was an incident and he was injured." His gray eyes seemed full of worry.

"I understand. Yes, Harry is here. Thankfully, he was not injured that badly. While he was attacked by dementors in the air during the Quidditch match, he never hit the ground when he fell from his broom. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout managed to catch him before he hit the ground. He's just suffering from the effects the dementors had on him. He'll need rest and I would like to keep him here for a day or two to observe him after he wakes up." She explained.

"He won't like that; he told me he spent way too much time in the infirmary." Sirius said, relieved that it was nothing serious.

New steps could be heard outside the room. Poppy turned towards the new visitors. It was the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who had changed out of their robes and put on clean and dry ones.

"Madam Pomfrey, could we please visit Harry?" Angelina asked.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey, we're worried about him." Alicia confirmed.

"Not at the moment. Mr. Potter is still asleep. He'll probably be in this state for some hours. He's magically exhausted. You can come back to visit him for half an hour after dinner. That's all I'll allow." She said sternly.

The members of the team looked at each other and then nodded. Fred and George gave Sirius a smile and a wink and then left with the others. Poppy turned towards Sirius and led him to the bed Harry was in. Sirius looked at the face of his son and was glad to see that he wasn't injured. He sat down on a chair next to Harry's bed and took to waiting until his son would wake up.

In the Gryffindor common room nobody was really in the mood to celebrate. Not until they knew how Harry was. It had been announced that Harry caught the snitch before the dementor attack and so Gryffindor won the game with 340 to 90. But it felt wrong to celebrate without Harry. He was the one to win the game for them. And he had risked his life doing it. Honestly, everybody knew it hadn't been his intention to be in such danger, but who could have known that the dementors would come to the match?

Ron and Hermione sat anxiously on some armchairs, waiting for the Quidditch team to come back. McGonagall had told them all to stay in the tower and had sent some food up. The only exception was the team, which she had allowed to ask Madam Pomfrey for Harry's current state. She knew the Weasley twins would otherwise have found another way to do it and this way was really easier.

"Do you think Harry will be okay?" Hermione asked Ron.

"Sure he will. The teachers caught him before he hit the ground. I don't want to think what could have happened if they didn't." Ron answered.

"How could the Ministry place these vile things around us? It's so wrong. It's because of them Harry fell off his broom." She ranted.

Many people who sat around them agreed with her. The attack had left them shocked. The Portrait hole opened and the Quidditch team entered. Hermione was the first to ask questions.

"How's Harry?" She asked.

"He's as well as he could be in his situation. He's asleep, and Madam Pomfrey told us that he isn't severely injured. He's magically exhausted from the dementors attack and his attempt to protect himself with a patronus. Blimey, if it had only been a couple of those monsters he would have succeeded to drive them away." Fred said awed.

"Yes. His guardian is with him now. We're allowed to visit Harry for half an hour after dinner. Madam Pomfrey expects him to be awake by then." George added.

Many relieved breaths could be heard. If Harry was as well as he could be, they could lay their worries to rest.

"I think we should postpone the celebration of our victory until Madam Pomfrey lets Harry leave the infirmary." Oliver suggested.

Everybody agreed.

* * *

Harry was slowly regaining consciousness. He was having problems recognizing anything around him. His body was aching. He felt weak, terribly weak. What had happened?

'Yes, the match. The dementors. The attack. My patronus.' Harry could only think in single terms. His mind wasn't yet ready to return to his normal capacity.

"Hey, Harry, can you hear me?" A very familiar voice asked.

Harry tried to speak, but his throat was sore. Sirius saw the problem and helped Harry to drink some little gulps of water to prevent him choking. Then he laid Harry back into his pillows. Harry took his time to really wake up.

"Pa?" He finally asked weakly.

"Yes son, I'm here. You really gave me a scare. I'm glad you're alright." Sirius said relieved.

Harry attempted a smile. It looked somewhat screwed up. Sirius stroke Harry's hair. He returned the smile. He was really glad that Harry didn't have serious injuries.

"Harry, when you're better, I'll go to the Ministry. I've already alerted some of my new acquaintances and I know that Amelia Bones will alert her contacts as well. We'll get Fudge to remove the dementors. I'll not stand aside when those monsters endanger my son." Sirius said firmly.

Harry smiled. It was the first time that somebody protested on his behalf against the authorities. Something that was a completely new concept to him. To be able to let adults handle the things for him. Only be able to be a teenager. It was great to finally have a father.

They heard footsteps coming towards them. Sirius looked up and saw Madam Pomfrey with a large bar of chocolate in her hands.

"I see you're finally awake Mr. Potter. How do you feel?"

"Weak." Harry brought out.

"No wonder. You have exhausted your magical core quite a bit. The patronus you produced would have protected you if it hadn't been for the fact that there were too many dementors. It requires a lot of magical power to achieve something like that. And then those monsters sucked some more of your power. You'll have to stay in bed for some days until you're recovered and I won't discuss this with you." She added, seeing Harry trying to protest.

She gave him a bit of chocolate, which he wasn't able to eat at the moment, which made Madam Pomfrey frown.

"Mr. Potter, you have to eat the chocolate to get better." She said.

"Perhaps you could organize some chocolate milk for him to regain some strength first, Poppy. I'm sure Harry will be able to eat some chocolate after that." A new, yet very familiar, voice suggested.

Sirius and Harry recognized the voice at once. It was Remus.

"Professor Lupin." Harry mumbled.

"Hello, Harry. I just wanted to see how you're doing." He said smiling.

Then he turned towards Sirius who really had problems keeping his secret, seeing his old friend standing before him. He wanted to talk to him, tell him what had really happened. But Poppy was there. He couldn't risk it. He had to think of Harry first and foremost. Never again would he fail his son.

"You must be Harry's new guardian." Remus said. "Remus Lupin, Professor for Defense against the Dart Arts." He introduced himself holding his hand out.

Sirius took Remus' hand and shook it.

"Orion de Jarjais, nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin." He said masking his true feelings.

"Harry wrote many pleasant things about your lessons. He really looks up to you." Sirius said.

"Really? Nice to know that I'm appreciated." Remus answered smiling.

"I'll leave you alone for some minutes. I have to tell the headmaster that Mr. Potter has awoken. I'll send a house elf with some chocolate milk for Mr. Potter. It's a good idea, Remus." Poppy informed them.

She left the infirmary. Harry looked at Sirius and gave him a questioning look. His question was clear. Should they use the opportunity to tell Remus everything? If he knew the truth he would certainly help them. And he was at Hogwarts. He could always help Harry when Sirius was at Grimmauld place. Sirius nodded.

"Professor Lupin, would you listen to an important story?" Harry asked.

Remus wondered what this was about. But listening wouldn't hurt him.

"Are you sure you want to tell me now, Harry? You're still weak after the dementor attack." He asked concerned.

A house elf popped into the room with a glass of chocolate milk.

"I has been ordered to gives yous this chocolate milk." The elf said.

"Thank you very much, Rinny." Remus said, taking the glass from the elf that popped away instantly.

"Can you drink yourself Harry?" Remus asked.

"No." Harry answered.

Sirius helped Harry sit up. He transformed the pillow to become thicker and more stable and let Harry drink from the glass in small sips. Remus could see how much he seemed to care for Harry, and was glad that Harry had found such a good guardian. He'd been extremely upset when he had read the articles in the prophet about Harry having been abused.

"Well, the story would be mine to tell." Sirius answered.

"Well, I promise to listen. I wonder why this is obviously so important."

"It's about the true traitor of Harry's parents. We found out that Lily and James' will stated that their secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black." Sirius said, hoping Remus would believe him.

"What? But Sirius killed Peter." He said disbelievingly.

"No, he didn't. He tried to get him for the betrayal but the rat faked his death and escaped. They only found a finger. Not very likely if he was blown up, don't you think?"

Remus's mind was spinning. Meanwhile, Harry finished the glass. He was beginning to feel a bit better.

"It's true Professor. It's in their will. And I saw the memories." Harry confirmed it.

"Which memories? The only one who could have memories would be…" Remus stopped realizing what Harry was indicating.

"Yes, I know where Sirius Black is." Harry said. "He showed me what really happened in 1981. He told me everything, all the reasons. I believe him. He's innocent. And Dumbledore knows." He added whispering. "He was witness to my parents' will."

Remus stood stunned. How could the headmaster do such a thing? Why would he send an innocent man to Azkaban and let the true culprit run free to be able to get to Harry later on?

He grabbed his head. That would mean… he looked at Orion de Jarjais. He got a nod. Recognition stood in his eyes.

"You changed and didn't tell me because you thought I was the spy." He said addressing the man he thought was Sirius.

"Yes, Moony. I'm terribly sorry for that. You were so distant at the time and we found it strange that you would distance yourself from us. And I couldn't be the secret keeper. It would have been way too obvious. Everybody knew I was James' best friend. I would have been found and spilled the secret under torture or Legilimency. While I'm a skilled Occlumens, Voldemort was too strong for me. So James, Lily, and I decided to change at the last moment to Peter to deceive Voldemort. I regret that decision more than anything."

"I believe you, Padfoot." Remus said.

They looked at each other and smiled. Harry was just happy that his father and his remaining best friend could finally be together again. He felt the effect of the chocolate milk, making him a bit stronger.

"Can somebody please give me a bit of chocolate? I'd rather regain a bit of my strength sooner rather than later." Harry asked.

"Of course, son." Sirius said, passing Harry the bowl with chocolate pieces.

"Son?" Remus asked.

"I adopted Harry to keep him safe from the old coot's manipulations. I'll tell you everything later in detail, Moony. I don't know when Madam Pomfrey will come back, probably with the old meddler."

Remus nodded. Given the things Harry and Sirius said about Dumbledore, he could understand this. Harry began nibbling on a piece of chocolate.

Soon they heard steps coming nearer. They silently agreed not to tell anything. When they looked, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey had arrived.

"Ah, Harry, good to see you awake again." Dumbledore said, with his best grandfather smile.

"Yes, it's nice to not be unconscious anymore." Harry answered, taking another piece of chocolate under the approving eyes of Madam Pomfrey.

"And you must be Comte de Jarjais?" Dumbledore asked Sirius.

"Yes headmaster. Nice to meet you." Sirius said politely.

"The pleasure is mine Comte de Jarjais. I've wanted to meet you for some time to get to know you better."

"I'm sure we will find time for that later, Headmaster. I have to admit, my timetable for the next month is rather full. I never expected to get that many invitations from the members of wizarding society when I moved here. It's rather overwhelming, but it would have been very impolite to deny all those invitations. For now, I just want to stay with Harry to help him get better." Sirius avoided a direct agreement.

"I see. It can be time-consuming to be part of the public interest. Don't I know it?"

"Professor Dumbledore, what will happen with the dementors now? I mean, they attacked students, especially me. Will they be removed?" Harry asked hopefully.

"My dear boy, I fear they won't. As long as the murderer Black isn't caught the Ministry will not take them back to Azkaban. They're here for the safety of the students, in the opinion of the Minister. I don't agree with him in this regard. I'm furious that they attacked the Quidditch pitch like that. But, regrettably, my hands are tied in this matter." Dumbledore said.

Sirius that moment decided that if Dumbledore was unwilling to do something, he would just ignore the man and present him with the results. He had promised Harry to get the Minister to remove those monsters. He could nearly smell the intentions of the headmaster. He wanted to make the dementors another of his little test schemes. Not with him, and not with Harry. Enough was enough. While Sirius doubted Dumbledore wanted Harry dead, he wanted him under his control. Something Sirius intended to prevent.

"Madam Pomfrey, would it be alright if I took Harry with me for the next few days? You said he needs rest. If he was to stay here, he would be the center of interest of the students and, most likely, he wouldn't rest. I know how teenagers are. At my home he would be undisturbed and I'll send him back when he has recovered in a few days" Sirius suggested.

"That isn't a bad idea, Comte de Jarjais. God knows that I already had to stop several of his friends from visiting. The only ones I allowed to come back are the Quidditch team members of Gryffindor. But I suspect Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will also come to see him."

"Please, Madam Pomfrey. I would really like to go home for a few days. Professor Dumbledore, please allow this." Harry begged.

Sirius mentally congratulated Harry on his acting skills. Dumbledore would think he did Harry a favor, for which the boy would feel indebted to him. But Harry wouldn't do it. The only use Dumbledore had, for the time being, was as a repellant to the remaining members of Voldy's death munchers.

"I don't see why not. It would probably be good for Harry. What do you think, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.

"I agree, but you have to rest Mr. Potter. You should be able to come back in four days to return to your classes." She said.

"Thank you." Harry said smiling.

"Do you want to wait for your teammates and friend to come to see you before you go?" Poppy asked. "They were allowed to visit half an hour after dinner."

"I'd like that. I also need to find out who got my broom."

He was greeted with heavy silence.

"What?" He asked, dreading the answer somewhat.

"Harry, your broom, unfortunately, was blown away in the storm." Remus started to explain.

"What happened to it?" Harry asked.

"It was blown into the womping willow." Remus finally answered.

"No. My god, that tree? Is there any way to repair my broom?"

"Unfortunately not, Harry." Dumbledore said. "Professor Flitwick managed to get it out of the tree, but it was only in splinters. It's beyond repair, I'm sorry." He added.

Harry's heart sank. His broom was destroyed. How would he be able to play for the house team this way? He'd have to get a new broom soon. That was the only way. Thankfully, he had inherited a lot of money, so getting a replacement wouldn't be that hard. But it still stung. His Nimbus 2000 had accompanied him through his first years. He had gotten it to be able to play for Gryffindor.

Dumbledore and Remus said their goodbyes. Remus would speak with Sirius later. Sirius had slipped him a piece of parchment to tell him his house elf would pick him up when he and Harry had left Hogwarts.

* * *

Harry sat dozing in his bed. Sirius had left to speak with McGonagall about Harry being absent for a few days. It was now eight and dinner was over. Harry expected his teammates and friends to come visit him soon. He really wanted to know what had happened after he fell. He wasn't disappointed. He soon heard many footsteps coming closer. Then he could see the people the feet belonged to. His team, Hermione and Ron.

"Hey." Harry greeted them.

He was still feeling lousy.

"Harry, we're so glad you're alright." Hermione said, getting nods of everybody.

"Bloody brilliant flying, Harry." Fred said.

"Bloody brilliant patronus." George added.

"Too bad there were that many of those beasts." Angelina agreed.

"You were brilliant out there Harry, to catch the snitch under those conditions is remarkable. You got us into first place for the house cup with that stunt." Oliver told him grinning.

"Nice to know." Harry answered smiling a bit.

"How are you feeling, mate?" Ron asked.

"Terrible. I feel totally drained. Madam Pomfrey told me that my magical core is exhausted and it will take some days for me to get back to normal. When I woke up, I wasn't even able to eat chocolate to negate the effects of the dementors. Thankfully, Professor Lupin thought of chocolate milk. It helped and I could eat after that. But it still makes me feel lousy."

Hermione and Ron raised their eyebrows a bit. Harry normally didn't tell them if he felt bad. He normally played it down. Their friend had certainly changed over the summer.

"Oh, Harry. Those dementors are horrible. While they're here to protect us from Black, I think they're too dangerous to keep around a school. If Dumbledore hadn't been at the pitch to chase them away, I don't know what would have happened to the students who were there." Hermione said.

"Truer words have never been spoken. The Ministry is totally insane to have done this." Katie said fuming.

"Yes. In situations like this I wish that gossip, Skeeter, would write an article. This time she wouldn't even need to blow things up. The truth is completely sufficient." Fred said.

"Too true. Fudge deserves that. But sadly, the Ministry uses the Prophet to publish their propaganda." George added.

"How do you know?" Alicia asked.

"Dad." Answered the twins and Ron unisonous.

"Yes, he always ranted about how Skeeter only printed lies that made the lives of those she wrote about hell." Ron elaborated.

"Sounds perfect for that idiot Fudge. I wonder if she would do me the favor to write about the attack." Harry mused.

"Would be great." Oliver agreed.

"So, when will you be released from the infirmary?" Angelina asked.

"I'll return home with my uncle Orion for a few days to rest. It'll be nice to see him for a few days. Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore gave their permission. I just wanted to see you all before I go." Harry explained.

"Nice to know that you value our company." George stated, grinning.

After all, the twins were in the conspiracy and knew exactly what it meant for Harry to see Sirius. He was still getting used to finally have a father.

"What can I say, you're irresistible." Harry said, causing the others to laugh.

* * *

**That's it for this week. Until the next chapter.**


	22. Hell has no Fury for Parents scorned

**Hello, this is the last update of my stories for this weekend (already posted a new oneshot for Naruto and chapter 5 for The Witches' Conspiracy).**

**Thanks go to DustBunnyQueen for betaing the chapter.**

**As always, HP is owned by JKR.**

**Happy reading and I would like many of those nice reviews I got for the last chapter.**

* * *

**Hell has no Fury for Parents scorned**

Cornelius Fudge was sitting in his comfortable armchair behind his mahogany desk. Yes, being the Minister for Magic definitely had its perks; and by now he didn't need the advice of Dumbledore anymore. He was the man in the top position. He loved his power. He decided, and the others followed his decisions. The hard work was the job of his subordinates. He especially was fond of Dolores Umbridge, a fine pureblood woman, who was more than capable upholding the discipline in his office. Yes, life was good indeed.

Amelia would calm down once she realized that the dementors at Hogwarts were a regrettable, but necessary, protection for the school. They were talking about You-Know-Who's right hand man on the loose. No, this was the right decision; even Dolores had the same opinion. The purebloods would understand; the halfbloods and muggleborns didn't count. They would fall into line, being powerless as they were.

A young witch entered his office by the open door.

"Minister Fudge, a group of wizards and witches including Harry Potter wishes to speak with you" She announced.

Harry Potter wanted to speak with him? That was rather curious. It was during the school term. The boy should be at Hogwarts. Well, surely it was to thank him for being that understandable of his situation, which led to him leaving his relatives house.

"Please send them in, Agatha." Fudge said.

If he had seen the evil grin on the young witches face, he would probably have been scared.

It took five minutes for the group to enter. It was an illustrious group; Amos Diggory, Marcus Greengrass, Arthur Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Amelia Bones, Augusta Longbottom even Rufus Scrimgeour was there. Some other purebloods as well he couldn't place at the moment. What could they want? Then there was Harry Potter and a man he didn't know, but who seemed close to Harry; perhaps this Comte who was Harry's guardian. Last, but not least, was Rita Skeeter. Interestingly, she didn't have her normal green quick quotes quill with her, but a blue one. The part he didn't like was the look on all their faces.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, to what do I owe this surprising visit?" Fudge asked.

"You dare even ask that?" Augusta roared. "What the hell has possessed you to order a guard of dementors around Hogwarts? Were you trying to injure innocent children?"

Fudge shrunk in his chair. Nobody was immune against the fury of the Lady of Longbottom house. Not even the Minister of Magic, especially if the Minister was a weak-minded fool like Fudge.

"Lady Longbottom is absolutely right, Cornelius." Rufus Scrimgeour added. "It is absolutely foolish to even think they would make appropriate guards. I would really like to know why my office hadn't even been consulted on this matter. It is my specialty to ensure protection of important people or institutions. I am the head of the auror office after all, and I have a niece attending Hogwarts in her sixth year. Please tell me how the students should be protected from the dementors, dangerous dark creatures class 5?" He thundered.

"I fully support Rufus's statement." Arthur Weasley added. "I have five of my seven children at Hogwarts right now and I know how vile dementors are. They don't distinguish between friend and foe; they only care to have enough souls to throw into misery. I expected better from you, Cornelius."

"I thought I taught you better than this, Cornelius. You are the Minister of Magic, for Merlin's sake. You should be able to make responsible decisions and not be swayed by public expectations." Minerva's stern look let Fudge further shrink in himself.

Amos Diggory and Marcus Greengrass were only nodding. None of them had yet told the man, that the dementors had attacked the Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. That was Harry's job. They only thought it right for the victim to have this pleasure. He nearly died because he lost hold of his broom when there were too many after him.

"I am the head of the Department of Control of Magical Creatures; and I can't even think of a single, valid, reason why one would willingly put children in the presence of dementors. My son is at Hogwarts, Cornelius, and he has to take his O.W.L.s this year. How shall I explain to him that he will be disturbed by a bunch of dementors hovering over the school like a death veil? If you want to avoid a bunch of howlers in your office for the next month, undo this outrageous nonsense." Amos Diggory demanded.

A coughing sound was heard behind them.

A toad like woman was standing in the doorframe.

"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I thought you were criticizing the Minister of Magic, the highest authority in our wizarding government." She said if a sickly sweet voice.

"Ah, Dolores, nice to see you." Fudge said.

"Minister, with all due respect." Harry began speaking.

Fudge wondered why the boy seemed so pale and shaken. He shouldn't be in this state. It would look bad for him if this could be connected in any way to him. Except, if he could blame Dumbledore for it and then be the nice helping Minister. Yes, that would be good. But he didn't like the look on the boy's face.

"I think you have made a grave mistake by placing dementors around Hogwarts to ensure my safety. I don't think that an attack on me during a Quidditch match, when I was several dozen feet high in the air, chasing the snitch, is my definition of safety. Don't look so surprised. What I am telling you is absolutely the truth. If not for my patronus charm, which only helped me for some seconds, in which I caught the snitch and managed to get a bit nearer to the ground until dementors surrounded me, I would be dead right now. Only the fast thinking and taking action of Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout saved me. They somehow stopped my fall magically."

"The charm is known as _aresto momentum__,_Mr. Potter." McGonagall supplied.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry said smiling sincerely.

"I'm sure you are exaggerating, Mr. Potter." said Umbridge.

"No I'm not, Madam Umbridge. If you doubt my words get a pensieve and see for yourself what happened during the match. Do you think I like being reminded of the night my parents died? Dementors show us our worst memories; that is mine. That damned Halloween night of 1981, when my life was destroyed by a maniac; who had been manipulating Great Britain for far too long. And I am sure Professor McGonagall can confirm my accusations against the dementors." Harry said without raising his voice once during his speech.

The adults were solemn. To have the boy be reminded of that night was horrible.

"But, Mr. Potter, the dementors are for your protection against Sirius Black. It is unfortunate that something like this happened, we will make sure it won't happen again." Fudge tried to explain. Harry interrupted him.

"Yes, I know about Sirius Black being after me. Supposedly after me that is. I ask you why would my godfather, my father's best friend, want to hurt me? I know of the theory of him betraying my parents to Voldemort." He rolled his eyes at all the grownups flinching at hearing the name. "But has anybody cared to check his left forearm if he had a dark mark? From what I read in the history books that my uncle let me read at his home, all the Death Eaters were branded with it. Surely, his supposed right hand man would have one. Did you?"

No one really wanted to answer this question. They didn't and here was the one person accusing them of not upholding their own laws, who had a right to do so. The boy who was the victim of the betrayal that had taken place.

"He was careful enough to escape suspicion until it was too late." Fudge said.

"That wasn't the question, Minister, but I will entertain you. So even during wartime, the Ministry didn't think of the most obvious measures to protect the population by checking their own employees for dark marks? Didn't it occur to you that Voldemort would have had an easier time taking over our country, which the Ministry tried to prevent, if he had his spies inside our government?

"This doesn't paint such a good picture of the abilities of our government. Moreover, all of the employees of the Ministry of this time were wrong in their opinion of Mr. Black; this paints a sad picture of our government, I have to say. How could a man, that everybody thought the personification of a loyal friend, who would rather die for his friends than betray them, deceive you all? He was an auror at the time, from what I managed to find out. Mr. Scrimgeour, you're the current head of auror office as you just reminded the Minister, aren't there obligatory personality tests for recruits before they're even allowed to start their training?"

Scrimgeour was impressed with the boy. He stayed calm and knew his arguments. A perfect picture of a pureblood heir; but wasn't the boy a halfblood, raised by muggles? Or were the rumors he had heard true and he was a pureblood?

"You're right, Mr. Potter. There are thorough personality tests and Sirius Black passed them all with flying colors."

"So, as I think this would be the first thing to raise at least a little bit of doubt, why did nobody investigate this matter further? I'll give you some slack, it was a really dark time and you had problems getting all of Voldemort's old supporters rounded up. But after things calmed down a bit, didn't it even occur to you that you were breaking your own laws by denying several people a fair trial? Three drops of Veritaserum or a foolproof taken memory viewed in a pensieve would solve all the cases easily. A skilled legilimens would be able to extract the memories without permanently damaging the mind of the suspected culprits.

"And even better, you could have asked the supposed Death Eaters who the others who supported Voldemort were. Did it ever occur to you that people like Bellatrix Lestrange could know an awful lot about those who were on Voldemort's side? I mean, it doesn't really take much to get this information. And the Ministry even gave the aurors permission to use the unforgivables during the hunts for Death Eaters. Some methods to ensure you found out the truth wouldn't have been a problem. That would have been justice. I bet none of those who were innocently imprisoned would have held a grudge against the Ministry for long if they were given a proper apology. It was dark times, after all. So may I ask why nobody bothered doing it?"

They were keeping an uncomfortable silence. Harry was right. They kept their quiet until Dolores Umbridge decided to speak.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, but as you were sadly raised by your muggle relatives, I fear you don't really know about wizarding laws and their peculiarities. I'm sure I'm mistaken, but it sounded as if you were accusing the Ministry of incompetence."

"Madam Umbridge, I was merely stating facts. And do you really think that I, as heir to six ancient and most noble pureblood houses, wouldn't make sure to learn everything about my heritage?" Harry asked politely not giving the woman any surface to attack.

"Six houses?" Fudge asked impressed and more than a bit worried.

Umbridge looked especially sour. It was as if she hated the thought of Harry having that kind of political power in the future.

"Oh yes, I only recently learned that my mother was a pureblood witch that was adopted by muggles, because she was found as an infant and put into a muggle orphanage. The goblins at Gringotts have an infallible inheritance test. It is procedure to confirm the identity of a customer by using this special potion and to determine if the person in question is possibly heir of an extinct family. As you know, we lost a lot of pureblood families in the wars against Voldemort, and Grindelwald before him; think about the Prewetts, the Boldons, and the Juneurs, to only list a few of them."

The adults were taken back into the past, remembering friends from those families that had died because of Voldemort. Harry continued; his training in speech really paid off now.

"As they refused to sink so low to bow before Voldemort, a halfblood wizard by the way-descended from Salazar Slytherin himself but nonetheless a halfblood-they were hunted without remorse and they were slaughtered. There isn't another fitting term for Voldemort's crimes. He used the pathetic excuse that they were blood traitors. As if. A blood traitor is not a pureblood who dares to befriend muggles. A blood traitor is someone who betrays his own blood by doing unforgivable crimes to them or their beliefs, or those who betray those standing them as near as blood relatives.

"Like friends who have gone through tough times and came out stronger together. If somebody betrayed such a bond, he would be worthy to be called a blood traitor. Voldemort used his heritage of one of the Hogwarts founders to deceive people, to charm them; believe me when I tell you he was really good at it. I met his sixteen year old self last year that he managed to transfer in a diary somehow." He left out the part about his knowledge of horcruxes. That would only raise suspicion he right now didn't need.

"Wait, how do you know that You-Know-Who was a Halfblood?" Fudge asked.

"I am sure you are aware off the article Miss Skeeter wrote in August regarding my 'adventures' at Hogwarts. In the Chamber of Secrets, from where my friend Ron Weasley and I rescued his sister Ginny; I met, I think an avatar is the closest term to describe it, of a boy called Tom Riddle. He boasted of being the heir of Slytherin and having possessed Ginny through the diary to do his bidding. He was especially interested in my survival in 1981." Harry explained, having a pained look on his face.

"I asked him why he had that interest as Voldemort was after his time. He showed me the reason. His full name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. If you exchange the position of the letters, you get 'I am Lord Voldemort'." Harry stated to the shock of many of the adults.

None of the assembled adults, except for Sirius, had known that little bit of information. The Dark Lord was a halfblood; talk about hypocrisy with him prosecuting everybody but purebloods.

"He also said that he invented the name to escape the stigma of having to bear the name of his worthless muggle father that abandoned his witch mother during her pregnancy with him."

Amelia and Rufus were looking at each other. They would have to talk with each other soon. This was valuable information.

"He murdered innocent people just because he could. He had fun doing it. His opinion of muggleborns, who have the same powers as other wizards born to pureblood families, was less than scum. Foolish. All the pureblood families had, at one point in time, been muggleborns. It just dates further back in time. Merlin himself was a muggleborn wizard and he was the most powerful wizard of all times. And there are not enough pureblood witches and wizards living in Britain to preserve the gift of being born able to use magic to be so retarded to stick to outdated beliefs.

"The only difference between muggleborns, halfbloods, and purebloods is their upbringing; and with me being a prominent example that things happen in life, that would even dissolve this barrier. I am a pureblood wizard, yet I was raised by muggles because a certain old fool decided to go against my parents will, let a traitor escape to who knows where, and sent an innocent man to Azkaban."

Everybody saw Harry clenching his fists at his sides now. Comte de Jarjais was putting his hand on Harry's shoulder to give him moral support.

"My parents, Lord James Potter and Lady Lily Potter nee Boldon, clearly stated in their last will and testament-of which a copy is residing in the department of inheritance at Gringotts Bank-that their secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew. And if they would be betrayed to Voldemort he should be thrown into a cell in Azkaban and the key thrown down the icy depths of North Sea. I, Harry James Potter, heir to the ancient and most noble houses of Potter, Boldon, Black, Peverell, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, swear on my magic that everything I told this audience is true. So mote it be!" A golden light engulfed Harry coming from his wand.

"Would you allow me to cast a lumos spell, Minister Fudge, to prove that I still have my magic?" Harry asked. Fudge just nodded.

Harry took out his wand and cast the spell with the result of a bright light coming from the tip of his wand. Rita was excited like never before in her life. This was the story of a lifetime and she was the only reporter present to write it. That would be a big bonus this month from her publisher. She didn't even need to spike things up. The truth was much juicier than anything she could have made up.

"This is an outrage, how dare you try and show up the Minister of Magic? And why are you the heir of the house of Black?" Umbridge yelled at Harry who kept his cool.

This time Sirius intervened.

"Madam Umbridge, I would advise you to be careful what you say. Harry has only told the truth as his magical oath has proven. And, by the way, the thing with him being the heir of the Black family is easily explained. Sirius Black has no children, only his godson Harry Potter. As long as he doesn't have a child of his own, his godson counts as his heir. As Harry is of Black descent, the pureblood rules support this. Harry's grandmother on his father's side was a Black, as far as I am informed.

"Under decree number 12 of the founding Charter of the British Wizarding Community, which is part of the hidden decrees of the Magna Carta that allows the wizarding world to exist next to the muggle world without being directly influenced by the sovereign of Great Britain- which at the moment is her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II. It's stated that regardless of social standing, blood status, confession, heritage, race or nationality every witch and wizard has the same rights in the wizarding community. The British system is dangerously close to losing a good part of its magic.

"You may not have signed the Magna Carta personally, but your ancestors did. Their magical oath to uphold the laws, written down then, binds all the wizarding community of Great Britain. The Ministry had the right to modify the laws and pass new ones as long as they don't go against the laws written down in the magical part of the Magna Carta. If you continue to deny some members of the society their rights, you will lose more than you can imagine. Why do you think my fellow wizards and witches in France follow the achievements of democracy that the French Revolution brought so intently? They made similar oaths, but there the degree of equality is not a hollow case. It is lived."

"And who do you think you are to be in a position to criticize traditions that have been good for our society in Britain for centuries?" She demanded to know.

"I am the current Comte de Jarjais, Madam, a title higher than a normal Lord here in Britain. It's an old title that comes from a time when France was ruled by a king and not a democracy. If you are educated in French history, you probably know that nearly all nobles of France became victims of the French Revolution. Not the de Jarjais'. We were loyal to the king, but always had the best of our people at heart. That is the reason why we are one of the few ancient and noble houses in France that still exist. And we are nobles in both worlds, wizarding and muggle. And we are proud of it."

"I would be careful, Madam Umbridge." Rita piped in. "You now insulted two pureblood noble lords in a span of a few minutes. I think this is not in balance with all the pureblood traditions you try to uphold so reverently."

"What are you even doing here?" Umbridge outraged.

"Getting the story of the century. Ministry outsmarted by The-Boy-Who-Lived, heir to two founders of Hogwarts. That's gold."

"You will not print this. The Ministry forbids it." Umbridge ordered.

"You can't order the Prophet to keep quiet, Madam Umbridge" Harry interrupted. "The Daily Prophet is a privately owned newspaper and only the majority owner can order something like this."

"The Ministry holds the majority of the shares. No other stockholder has that many shares." Umbridge triumphantly stated.

"Wrong, Madam Umbridge. You see, the Potter Family holds 20 % of the shares, the Juneur family holds 12 %, Boldon family 23 %, Romanov family 11 %, and Stuart family 10 %. This combined makes 76 % of the shares. The Ministry has 24 % of the shares. And coincidentally I am the heir of all those families and therefore majority owner and I asked for Ms. Skeeter to be invited to this meeting as I want the public to know what the Ministry thinks is best for the safety of their children.

"Remember, we came here because of the attack on the match of Gryffindor versus Slytherin. It is obvious that it is not only ridiculous, but also dangerous for the students, to post dementors at a school. It's not healthy for the students. I would think the parents of the students of Hogwarts, who are not here, would react the same as these fine ladies and gentlemen. Who are all pureblood witches and wizards of high social standing: Ministry employees, a teacher at Hogwarts, a well-known and respected businessmen." He motioned towards Mr. Greengrass.

"What do you want to do, Minister Fudge? It is no shame to admit a mistake; it makes you look like the better man in the eyes of the public. If not, well I think you can imagine the reactions to Ms. Skeeter's article. They will happen nonetheless, as you decided to ignore Madam Bones' warnings at the beginning of the school year. But what do you think will happen if you ignore this?" Harry stated calmly while he was mentally grinning like a mad man.

"You are sure that Sirius Black is innocent?" Fudge asked.

"Unseal my parents will if you don't believe me. Look at the memories that Madam Bones received anonymously. Take action. Then you might save something. I won't accept that my innocent godfather will be hunted while the man that is responsible for the murder of my parents is left free. I would recommend keeping this part quiet as long as you haven't caught him; it would make the auror's jobs a lot easier, I suppose. But imagine what the public would say if they found out that you did everything to ensure justice is served."

Fudge was fighting with himself. Not only was he cornered, it was by a thirteen-year-old boy who could very well turn the public against him. There was only one way out.

"Rufus, Amelia, get the dementors away from Hogwarts. Rufus, send as many of your men you think appropriate to guard the school if we would really chase Sirius Black. He is right, we sometimes have to swallow a bitter pill to cure a decease."

Fudge definitely didn't look happy. But he had to do damage control. When the article was published he, at least, could say he wasn't a man who couldn't see reason. He was well aware, that the public would certainly support the heir of two of the Hogwarts founders. This really was not his day.

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**That was the chapter. Next one is coming up soon.**


	23. Revealing a Traitor

**Hi everybody. It is Sunday and my great beta DustBunnyQueen has finished checking the next chapter, which means, this time we managed the weekly update.**

**Thanks to all of you who wrote reviews for the previous chapters.**

**This chapter is a bit shorter than others, but I think you will like it as you will find out just how I planned to reveal the rat.**

**Happy reading.**

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**Revealing a traitor**

Fudge had kept his word, the dementors were gone the next morning when Harry returned to the castle. Rita's article on the matter had been spectacular. Harry had been bombarded with questions from his classmates for the whole week and he was answering them happily.

With some temptation to get an exclusive interview, Rita had kept the secret of the true traitor being Pettigrew. That would be her next great story. Harry was subtly making the blond reporter indebted to him. She would only be able to get top selling stories from him if she kept writing the truth. That and she now knew he was the majority owner of the Prophet.

The one who was clearly displeased was Dumbledore. He now knew that Harry had found out about his heritage, and it would be terribly difficult to influence him with him being aware of his political position in the wizarding world. He couldn't count on the effect the abuse at the Dursley's hands had on the boy anymore. Harry had done everything to guarantee that he would never go back there. Nobody could force him to do so; even more now that he was the acknowledged heir of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. He didn't even know this. He had had his suspicions about Gryffindor because all of the Potters had been in that house for generations, but Ravenclaw? More so, he was the Boldon heir, a family with so much influence in wizarding economy that everybody would be trying to do what the boy wanted.

The next thorn in his plans was Orion de Jarjais. The damned French nobleman was clearly helping the boy to become more independent. If he didn't know that it was impossible, he would have guessed that Sirius had paid the man to help Harry; but as an escaped prisoner on the run he couldn't do that. Nothing would be worse than Sirius taking charge of Harry. The Black Lord was too smart for Albus' liking; too independent. He didn't want to follow Dumbledore's orders.

Plus he couldn't let Harry become too independent. He had to kill Voldemort with Albus guiding him on the way. That way Albus could keep control, be the one who stood in the center of admiration, and take the role of the leader when the job was done. He had declined the offers for the top spot at the Ministry so far because it wouldn't have done his image any favors to have to play the bad Minister who was unable to protect the population from Voldemort.

No, the better way had been to be the only one who did something against Voldemort and had some success. Yes, manipulating the good people was so easy. Gellert should have known better than to attempt to rule by fear and terror. That never worked. You had to get the masses on your side to have success. If Gellert had not become stuck in his delusional superiority complex, they could have become the leaders of all wizarding Europe. But no, it didn't work.

You never told those you regarded below you that you did. You had to be subtle, something Gellert never was, but he had been trained to be by his mother from a young age. Yes, Kendra Dumbledore had taught her son everything about secrets and deception. Something his younger brother Aberforth had never been able to appreciate. Since his little sister had been harmed by those muggles he had had the goal to make the wizards the ruling power in Europe.

His plans had brought results over time. The first real drawback was Voldemort rising to power after he had established himself as a powerful political figure. That blasted Tom Riddle was a danger to his own position, but thankfully, he was also as deluded as Gellert had been. Sadly, he had not been able to find Tom's hideout or he would have done the same as with Gellert; strike at an appropriate moment to take the spotlight again. After hearing the prophecy, he saw the perfect opportunity to get rid of Tom and in the process gain a powerful tool for his plans.

Letting Peter betray the Potters was so easy. He had known for some time that he was the spy. How could he not? He wasn't a master at Legilimency for nothing; and it was so obvious. That had taken care of Lily and James, who would have fought tooth and nail to protect their son against his manipulations. The same was true for the Longbottoms. Just in case, he had delayed the calls for help of Frank and Alice. Through planting doubts in Neville's abilities in Augusta, the boy was severely self-conscious and easy to control. It was Albus' policy to never completely disregard a potentially useful tool.

Bringing the boy, who was thought to be a squib—the wonders of magical binds—into Hogwarts, let him be seen as the nice old man, who everybody trusted again.

He really had to find a way to get Harry to believe in him; and do this before his magic undid all the blocks he had placed on the boy before he left him at the Dursleys. Some had broken. The wandless magic block was destroyed, that much was sure. He just hoped the others were still intact. Well, the teachers hadn't told him any impressive results of Harry in their classes, so this seemed to still be under his control.

* * *

It was finally time to act. Harry was glad. He really had problems keeping his cool while observing the rat. He, Fred, and George had everything ready. They had checked on the marauders map where McGonagall was at the moment. Dumbledore was out of the castle and couldn't interfere with anything. So without the headmaster present—he was at some meeting of the ICW, from what they knew it was held in Japan—the decision concerning the ousted Peter Pettigrew would be with the deputy headmistress.

It was just after lunch. They had timed the revelation for the time when McGonagall was getting ready to head to her afternoon classes. Fred and George approached Ron.

"Hey, Ron, could we borrow Scabbers for some minutes? We want to test a new spell we need for a prank." Fred asked his younger brother in a hushed voice.

"What have you planned?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt Scabbers. We just want to scare some Slytherin girls. If this test goes well, we will have a lot of fun. They will think Slytherin house is being haunted by ghost rats." George told Ron, grinning.

Ron was battling with himself. On the one hand, he wanted Slytherin pranked; they had a house rivalry after all. On the other hand, Fred and George were not that responsible and he didn't want Scabbers to be hurt. Harry jumped in to aid the twins.

"Listen, Ron, I know what the twins have planned and it is brilliant. I can't tell you anything here, too many ears not meant to hear it. I can guarantee you that it won't hurt Scabbers. I overheard them planning." He assured Ron.

Hesitantly, Ron nodded and handed the rat over to Fred. Harry took pleasure in the unhealthy look of the traitor. Oh yes, fear was a powerful thing, and he deserved it for being the reason Harry's life had become hell in his childhood; well, him and Dumbledore. He wouldn't begrudge the old manipulator his share of guilt.

Fred took the rat and went over to George, out of earshot of Ron. Harry and Ron went to a more secluded area.

"What exactly have the twins planned, Harry?" Ron wanted to know.

"It's quite the idea. You remember when McGonagall taught us how to do the animagus revealing spell? How a normal animal glows green when it is hit with it?" Harry began explaining.

"Yes." Ron said not seeing where this would lead to.

"The twins think they have found a variation of that spell, based on the normal one. The normal one only leaves a glow around the animal for a short time, the color depending on the animal, you know if magical or normal."

Seeing Ron nodding, Harry continued.

"The thing the twins are planning is keeping the glow for hours and varying the intensity of the color. Think of one hundred of eerily green glowing rats, mice, toads and so on and you get the plan for the twins' prank." Harry said.

Ron was grinning widely.

"You're right, this is brilliant. And there really is no real danger for Scabbers. I can't wait for the Slytherins being haunted."

Harry knew before this would happen, Scabbers would be revealed. The twins made it so that Harry was near them when they would cast the spell, as were McGonagall and Remus, who was in on the plan.

The great hall was nearly empty as most students were on their way to their dormitories to get their things for the afternoon lessons.

Ron and Harry then heard one of the twins cast the spell Harry had his wand ready.

"_Animagus revelio._" They heard.

The rat turned glowing red and then the power of the spell forced Peter Pettigrew to transform into his human form. Harry knew his act. It wasn't really hard to play the hatred, as he was really feeling it.

"You!" Roared Harry, looking at Pettigrew.

The teachers had never seen Harry draw his wand so fast.

Harry stormed at Pettigrew. He wanted to hurt the man so badly. This was the sign for Remus to act.

"_Stupefy!_" Remus yelled, hitting his mark dead on, making Peter fall on the ground.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall asked sternly.

"Minerva, I think the twins accidentally found the scumbag that ratted Lily and James out to Voldemort." Remus said, causing those students, who had been near and heard Harry's yelling to come to look, to gasp.

Ron, who was obviously disturbed to see his best friend like this, and Hermione, who had talked to Neville when Harry had told Ron of the twins' plan, held Harry back.

"Hermione, Ron, let me go! This scum is going to suffer!" Harry shouted.

"What did you do?" Minerva asked the twins, carefully keeping an eye on Harry, while Remus kept his wand pointed at the unconscious form of Peter.

"Professor, we just borrowed Scabbers, eh, this man, weird to think Scabbers was a wizard, anyway, we borrowed him from Ron, because we wanted to test a variation of the animagus revealing spell. We wanted to eh, make the glow a bit brighter." Fred awkwardly explained.

Harry had to admit the twins were really good at acting.

"When the spell hit him, he began glowing red and changed into this form. Then we heard Harry…" George pointed at him "…yell, and then Professor Lupin cast the stunning spell. Who is that man?"

"This is Peter Pettigrew, a man I thought dead for twelve years, who was said to have been killed by Sirius Black." Remus explained.

Many gasps could be heard at the name.

Minerva took action. As deputy headmistress, she was in charge of Hogwarts when Albus was absent.

"Severus, get me some Veritaserum, please. We'll get to the bottom of all of this. Peter is our best chance to find everything out, as it seems Mr. Potter believes him to be a traitor." She said, getting a feeling that this had been planned.

"He is! My parents wrote it in their will. He was their secret keeper. He betrayed our hiding place to Voldemort. Nobody else could have done it!" Harry growled.

Severus hurried to the dungeons. He had some Veritaserum in stock at all times. You never knew when you needed it. He had dreamed of sliping some into Potter's pumpkin juice. To think he had the man who had sold Lily out before him lit a fire he didn't know he still had inside of him. While he had told the dark Lord the prophecy, he had practically sold his soul to Dumbledore to save her. He would not let the chance to see at least a bit of justice for Lily slip away.

Minutes later, he arrived back with the truth potion. Seemingly, Weasley and Granger had managed to calm Potter somewhat down. The boy still glared at the man on the ground.

"Here it is, Minerva." He said, handing her the vial.

"Thanks, Severus. Please bind him to a chair and make sure he can't escape. Remus, I suppose you know the charm to prevent him from transforming again?"

"Of course, Minerva." Remus confirmed.

Severus conjured ropes to bind Pettigrew to the chair Minerva had conjured. She then administered the truth potion. Three drops in the mouth.

"_Enervate._" She cast the spell to awake the man.

"_Transforma prevento._" Remus said casting his spell and holding it.

Peter's eyes opened and he blearily looked at the teachers.

"What is your name?" Minerva asked.

"Peter Patrick Pettigrew." He answered.

"Who has been the secret keeper of the Potters in 1981?"

"Me." He answered.

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"What have you been doing in You-Know-Who's name?"

"Finding opposing wizards, telling him their locations, torturing muggles and muggleborns..."

"How did you manage to make Sirius Black look like the culprit in betraying the Potters?"

"I shouted for all the muggles around me to hear that he had betrayed James and Lily, cast a bludgeoning spell at a building where I knew was a gas pipe—which would make everything around explode—cut my finger to fake my death, and transformed into my rat animagus form to escape. It looked like Sirius did everything."

"Why did you hide all this time in a wizarding family?"

"I wanted to listen to the news if the Dark Lord was returning. I wanted to be in a position to kill Harry to prove my loyalty to the Dark Lord when he returned."

This shocked everybody in the great hall.

"Give him the antidote, Severus. I have a floo call to make. We need some aurors to get this scum to Azkaban. We also need to report this to Amelia Bones so she can call off the hunt for Sirius Black, no need to hunt an innocent man. He has to be freed of all charges." Minerva said, making Harry smile a bit.

Snape and Remus guarded Pettigrew carefully under the curious eyes of the students in the great hall. There were now a lot of them, word of what had happened had spread and everybody wanted to get a look at the caught Death Eater.

Ten minutes later Amelia Bones, Rufus Scrimgeour, and three other aurors entered the hall with Minerva. Minerva led them towards Pettigrew, where all of them inspected the man.

"Are you absolutely sure it is Pettigrew?" Scrimgeour asked.

"I questioned him under Veritaserum, Rufus. It is him." Minerva confirmed.

"Very well. Peter Pettigrew, you are under arrest for betraying the location of James, Lily, and Harry Potter to the dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort, membership in a terrorist organization, use of unforgivable curses against fellow human beings, and treason against the country. You will be transported to Azkaban to await your trial before the Wizengamot." Amelia Bones told the man, who had begun whimpering more and more with every word.

Nobody paid him any merciful thought. Remus looked at him with utmost disgust, Harry with hatred and a shrewd satisfaction. The traitor would spend the rest of his pitiful life in Azkaban. If there was anybody who deserved the dementors, it was Peter.

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**That's it, please tell me how you liked the method of revealing the traitor.**


	24. Trial After Twelve Years

**Now finally, after the computer of my beta crashed, thanks to DustBunnyQueen for still managing to get it ready, here is chapter 24. Thanks to all those that left reviews. **

**As usual, I own nothing of HP.**

**Happy Reading**

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**Trial After Twelve Years**

Harry was unable to stop grinning. He had taken Hermione and Ron aside after Pettigrew had been taken away and told them everything that had happened to him during the summer.

"Man, Harry, why didn't you tell us before?" Ron asked irritated.

"Believe me, Ron, I wanted to tell you, but it was too risky. It's not that I don't trust you, I trust you more than anybody else, but you aren't able to use Occlumency. And Dumbledore and Snape are proficient Legilimens, masters in the art of reading someone's mind." Harry explained.

"While I 'm not ready, myself, to withstand either of their attacks on my mind yet, I am protected by my status as the heir of the houses of Potter and Black. The heir rings, which become invisible for as long as I want, have ancient magic inside of them to protect family secrets or the heirs against enemies. For example, the Black heir ring protects against intruders in the mind until the heir is able to protect his mind on his own. The Potter heir ring protects against low-level curses completely, and middle-strong curses up to a limited degree. From what I was told, it would protect me against a single _reducto_ but would have to be recharged after that. You two don't have this protection and I couldn't allow my father to be arrested innocently again just because Dumbledore wants to control me. Not after I finally have a father."

"I still have difficulties believing Professor Dumbledore would do such a thing." Hermione stated, clearly disturbed by the thought that the most well known light wizard had manipulated Harry's life in such a way.

Ron looked ready for one of his jealousy trips. Harry decided to stop it in the beginning.

"Ron, I think I know what you're thinking, that I have everything given to me just because I was born into nobility. You know that I don't care about my fame. After all, you've been my best friend from the train ride to Hogwarts in our first year. But I've learned that if I want to change our world for the better, and prevent anything like Voldemort's reign of terror to ever repeat itself, I will have to use it. As for the money, I know how poverty feels, heck, you have been way better off than I have with the Dursleys. All my clothes were old cast-offs of Dudley, and you know how he looks. At least you had a family who loved you."

Ron had the decency to look ashamed.

"In our first year, the Mirror of Erised showed me my deepest desire as it showed you yours. You wanted to stand out above your brothers; I wanted a family. Well, I've found one person who is family to me, Sirius, my adopted father; and you can achieve rising out of the shadow of your brothers. You clearly have a bright mind; otherwise, you wouldn't be that good at chess. You're brilliant at strategy. Well, I say use your talents, learn as much as you can in the areas that interest you and excel there.

"And most importantly, think about the time your brothers began to excel. Did Bill start as the cool curse-breaker you described me when you told me about your older brother during our first ride on the Hogwarts Express? Did your brother Charlie, who helped us get Norbert to the preserve in our first year, know how to handle dragons when he was thirteen? I don't think so, they took their time to learn the things they wanted to do here at Hogwarts, and later learned even more about the things they loved to do."

Harry knew he needed to get Ron to see his own worth.

"Think about the twins. Your mother is complaining about them not achieving as good results as she would like them to, but they know what they want and work for it. None of the Weasleys I met is stupid or useless. Your family is one of the coolest wizarding families I've met, so you don't need to stand out right now. Find the thing you're good at first."

Ron blushed at the praise for his family.

"Nothing more is needed to show your own worth. Don't try to surpass your brothers in their best areas, make a name for yourself in your area of expertise. You're already a brave and loyal friend, a much better one than all those pricks with money could have been. I mean, look at your father. I've heard he's taken in well at his new job and is a real asset to JWT. He likes muggles and their inventions, he works hard at what he likes, and I am sure he will soon make a name for himself in this area."

Ron was impressed by Harry's words. He had never thought of it in this way.

"Do you really think I could do this?" He asked his friends.

"Of course you can, Ron." Hermione encouraged him.

"You only need to work a bit more on your own to be better in classes. Harry's right, you're smart, you just don't make the effort for it to show. If you would, you could show everybody that you're good."

"And to be honest, there is plenty of time to find your specialty while we are at school. I mean, we're only thirteen. We have five years left at school. If you would let me, I would like to suggest two subjects that I think would suit you well." Harry said.

"Two new subjects? I don't think I could handle two more Harry, one probably, but two would be too much." Ron argued.

"I did think of that, don't worry. I thought of Muggle Studies and Arithmancy. Arithmancy would work well with your analytical mind, and Muggle Studies to get a better understanding of their world and inventions. Besides, you would only have to take one of them here at school. I would recommend you take the pensieve course in Muggle Studies Pa has gotten for his collection. It's way more up-to-date than anything they teach here at Hogwarts.

"And I'm sure Hermione would be delighted to help you understand anything you have problems with; she is a muggleborn witch and has actually grown up in their world. My upbringing can't really be called knowledge, as the Dursleys never let me out to explore more than the immediate neighborhood. I could have gotten dangerous ideas." Harry said sarcastically.

Hermione seemingly liked that idea. From what Harry had told them, the pensieve lessons he had taken were much better than anything the teachers at Hogwarts had taught them in those areas. She was slightly irritated that the supposed best school for magic offered subpar education in some areas. Thankfully' Harry had assured her that Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Vector, Babbling, Sprout− with some minor lacks, Lupin, and Sinistra were very capable in their areas of expertise. However, that left Divination, Muggle Studies, Potions and, to some extent, Care of Magical Creatures open for attacks. Although she had to admit, Hagrid had gotten better in his classes.

Harry had seen the problems that would arise if Hagrid kept showing them the more dangerous magical creatures from the start. So he took one Saturday morning to speak with his friend to help him work out his lessons to be less open for criticism. After the near-disaster with the Hippogriffs, Hagrid was gladly agreeing to tone down the level of creatures.

That didn't mean they were shown less-impressive creatures. Hagrid had gotten them Kneazles—normally taught later—but they were not dangerous in any way and they were a hit with the girls, they really liked the cats. Then moved on to show them ashwinders, beautiful, but dangerous, snakes if angered; which were held in a glass terrarium to ensure the student's safety. Harry had a very interesting conversation with one of the older males, to the slight discomfort of his classmates, but he couldn't care less. Everybody knew he was a parselmouth from last year, and he had proven not to be an evil wizard.

Then Hagrid showed them different kinds of food for different species of magical creatures and which food would be good for them in which situation. Hagrid could often been seen talking to Remus, asking for advice how to present the creatures he had chosen for his classes. Remus was only too happy to help Hagrid out. The results were very pleasant for Harry to see. Hagrid's classes became one of those nearly everybody enjoyed taking. The Slytherin bullies didn't count.

"That's not a bad idea. I think dad would be happy if I showed more interest in the muggle world, and I don't want to embarrass myself when I go there. Plus, if I only had one real new subject, I could handle the work. But which subject would I drop?" Ron asked counting the subjects.

"Divination, of course." Harry said happily.

Hermione frowned. She still didn't like the thought of dropping subjects; but she had to admit the workload was getting to her. Perhaps Harry was right. Besides, the time turner was beginning to turn her crazy.

"You really dislike the subject, don't you?" Ron asked grinning.

"From what I have heard you and Hermione telling me about Trelawney, I think I have every right to do so. Divination is so imprecise that it's nearly useless. You can so easily manipulate predictions, it isn't funny. Spout some rumors, mix it with mystery, observe your opposite, and you can pretty well say what will likely happen. If you sprout some vague predictions, many will go out of their ways to see that they've come true. I have better things to study about." Harry said.

He was slightly disgruntled with the whole Divination fuss Parvati and Lavender were making in their common room; and that fraud Trelawney was still predicting poor Neville's death. Neville was already self-conscious and didn't need to be put down in more misery.

"I'll think about it. The prospect of ditching Divination has its merits, and we have only had a few months of lessons in those subjects. I could probably catch up with the rest if I decided to change my electives." Ron was pondering.

Harry was glad to have prevented an episode of jealousy from Ron. As much as he liked his best friend, that aspect of his personality was not one of his favorites.

"So, what will you do when Dumbledore returns from the ICW conference?" Hermione asked.

"Sit back and enjoy the show. He has nothing he could do against Pa regaining his freedom. Madam Bones has assured this, and Fudge knows better than to go against the now known heir of six old pureblood families if he doesn't want to look like the biggest idiot there is. He won't win the next election for Minister. Before long, there will be another Minister, one who will be able to manage things a bit more professionally."

"Do you know that you sound eerily like a Slytherin right now, Harry?" Ron asked concerned.

"Yes. You know I have some traits of every house of Hogwarts, why do you think my sorting took so long? The sorting hat even seriously considered putting me into Slytherin. But I didn't want to go there, so I asked it to put me anywhere but Slytherin." Harry told them.

"Horrible thought. You would have to share a dorm with Malfoy." Ron said disgusted.

"True, Ron, very true. I'm very thankful that I became a Gryffindor. While not all Slytherins are evil, I like the little peace I have. And being around Malfoy all day would drive me crazy."

The three shared a good laugh.

* * *

It was the next morning and, predictably, there was a big article in the Daily Prophet that told everything about the capture of Peter Pettigrew. Harry read it with rapt attention.

_**Truth revealed after twelve years**_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_Yesterday, shortly after lunch at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, an extraordinary incident took place. As this reporter has been told, a harmless attempt __at__ a prank by resident Hogwarts pranksters__-__in__-__chief, twins George and Fred Weasley__,__ led to an unbelievable discovery._

_Peter Pettigrew, a man believed dead for twelve years, killed by the hand of one Sirius Black__,__ is alive! The same man that __was__ said to have betrayed Lord James and Lady Lily Potter._

_But I ask: Is it the truth?_

_Many things are suspicious in that regard. After a thorough investigation__,__ it was revealed that Sirius Black never even got a trial. A point that Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived and heir apparent to six influential noble houses, has remarked as unforgivable by a legal government. As you remember from my last article about the dementor attack during the Quidditch match Gryffindor versus Slytherin at Hogwarts some weeks ago, young Harry Potter met the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge__,__ to get him to remove the dementors from the school._

_With the support of many wizards and witches of high social standing__,__ like Lady Augusta Longbottom and the current head of auror department Rufus Scrimgeour__,__ he managed to convince the Minister of the mistake that was made in the attempt to protect __him__ from the supposed murderer Black._

_A__ll the wizards and witches present __agreed__ to keep one important fact secret__,__ and that was Mr. Potter pointing out that his parents stated in their will that their secret keeper was none other than Peter Pettigrew. _

_And__, __more important__ly__, Albus Dumbledore__—__ current Headmaster of Hogwarts School and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot__—__knew it. He was witness to the signing of the will of Lord and Lady Potter._

_This only leaves one conclusion: Sirius Black is innocent and __was__ set up by the people he trusted, his former friend Peter Pettigrew__,__ and headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the supposed leader of the light._

_Is Dumbledore really a light wizard? Many questions are coming up due to his ways of handling things, especially regarding the upbringing of Harry Potter. _

_As your faithful reporter found out, it was Albus Dumbledore who placed the poor boy with his muggle relatives. Worse, he left him on the doorstep in the middle of the night in November__,__ protected by just a baby blanket against the cold. How could he place the heir of six noble and most ancient houses (namely Potter, Black, Boldon, Peverell, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw) with muggles that hate everything about magic?_

_Isabella Thannys, 33, a fellow classmate of Lady Lily Potter answered, when asked by this reporter what she knew of Lily's family__,__ 'Lily always described her parents as very kind and caring people. They were proud having a daughter with the ability to use magic. But they never favored her over her sister Petunia. Still, her sister was jealous of Lily, which was hard for Lily to endure__, __as she really loved her sister. With time__,__ her sister became really nasty and always called her a freak.'_

_Now__,__ I have to ask, if Lily Potter's classmates knew about the treatment Lily got by her sister, why did Dumbledore still place poor Harry with them?_

_The agreement made at the Ministry was to prevent the traitor Pettigrew __from__ becom__ing__ suspicious of the plans put in place to catch him__. __I__t truly is ironic how two fifteen year old boys__,__ who just wanted to test a variation of the animagus__-__revealing spell to enhance the glow that cloaks the animal (green for normal, blue for magical animals and red for animagi) for a longer period to get a harmless laugh at some startled schoolmates__, discovered him__._

_Immediate action __was taken__ by the current teacher in Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, Remus Lupin, who stunned the revealed wizard Pettigrew immediately__,__ and Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall__,__ who ordered Potions Master Severus Snape to get her Veritaserum to question Pettigrew, ensur__ing__ that the truth was finally revealed under the surprised eyes of Hogwarts' students, including Mr. Potter._

_Peter Pettigrew admitted under Veritaserum that he was a __D__eath __E__ater, supported He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in his torture of muggles and muggleborns, and delivered many wizards and witches who opposed You-Know-Who to his master. He also admitted that __he__ was the secret keeper of the Potters and blamed Sirius Black for his actions__.__U__sing the emotional distress of Black over the death of his best friend and said friend's wife to his advantage._

_The Minister of Magic has already called a date for the trial of Peter Pettigrew__,__ and asks Sirius Black to turn himself in so he can finally be given the trial he should have gotten in 1981. For Mr. Black__,__ it is just a formality to be cleared of all charges._

_Many assumptions were made in 1981 by the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement__,__ Bartemius Crouch, who denied Black a trial and sent him straight to Azkaban like many others._

_I ask, are there more innocent prisoners __in__ Azkaban? How could our Ministry let its own laws be ignored that gravely? Why is the __C__hief Mugwump of the Wizengamot so keen to keep every__one__ in the dark?_

_I promise you__,__ dear readers, that I will find out and report the complete truth in this matter._

* * *

"She really didn't waste any time." Harry commented smugly.

"This is a big scandal. Dumbledore won't have a day without getting a howler. I'm sure mum will be one of those to send him one." Ron said.

"I would really enjoy seeing him bombarded with howlers. He deserves nothing better." Harry stated.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was livid. His carefully laid plans had been thwarted. The blasted boy had gotten a look at his parents will and knew Sirius had been framed. Blasted goblins. He should have known that they would have a copy of the will. This was a catastrophe. All his hard work over decades was seriously damaged. He would have to act fast to save as much as possible. Perhaps he could plea for forgetfulness of old age regarding the identity of the secret keeper. This would be hard; as witness to a will, you had to be reliable.

Damn Sirius. Damn Weasley twins. They just had to come up with this stupid prank idea. If he had only known about the location of Pettigrew, he could have killed the only evidence that could have gotten Sirius cleared. Now, with Minerva reporting the contents of the interview of Pettigrew, there was nothing that could be done. If he had only been at the school when they discovered Pettigrew, he could have cast a memory modifying charm and destroyed every proof.

But no, it just had to happen when he was away at the ICW conference, where his colleagues were less than impressed with his actions in the past. Until now, he had just had little bumps in the plan. If he officially apologized to Sirius, saying that he had been unknowing of him not being the Potters' secret keeper—due to an injury during a fight with Voldemort that erased his memory of the will—perhaps he could save something. It would be a stain on his public relations, but it would pass. He could live with some distrust for a few months, which would be the most the public was about to remember this.

Thankfully, nearly nobody knew of his friendship with Gellert Grindelwald in his youth. All those that could know were long dead, and Bathilda Bagshot had been lost to insanity. That flank was secure.

The problem was, with Harry being the heir of six pureblood houses he would wield political power, which was a threat to his own position. Until now, he had voted as proxy for Harry and gotten many of his decrees passed this way. Without Harry's votes, this would be a lot more difficult. While he hadn't known about the Ravenclaw and Boldon Lordships, he had used the other three for his goals. The Black Lordship had still been with Sirius, so it had been impossible for anyone to use it.

He had to regain control over Harry, at any cost.


	25. Revelations

**Sorry for the long wait, my notebook broke and I only can load up chapter from an Internet cafe.**

**I hope you like the new chapter**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

**Revelations**

Albus Dumbledore was livid. His carefully laid plans had been thwarted. The blasted boy had got a look at his parents will and knew that he had framed Sirius. Blasted goblins. He should have known that they would have a copy of the will. This was a catastrophe. All his hard work over decades was seriously damaged. He would have to act fast to save as much as possible. Perhaps he could plea for forgetfulness of old age regarding the identity of the secret keeper. But that would be hard. As witness to a will you had to be reliable.

Damned Sirius. Damned Weasley twins. They just had to come up with that stupid prank idea. If he had only known about the location of Pettigrew, he could have killed the only evidence that could have gotten Sirius cleared; now with Minerva reporting the contents of the interview of Pettigrew, there was nothing that could be done. If he had only been at the school when they discovered Pettigrew, he could have cast a memory modifying charm and destroyed every proof.

But no, it just had to happen when he was away on the ICW conference, where his colleagues were less than impressed with his actions in the past. Until now he just had had little bumps in the plan. Perhaps, if he officially apologized to Sirius that he had been unknowing of him not being the Potters' secret keeper due to an injury during a fight with Voldemort that erased his memory of the will, it could be possible that he could save something. It would be a stain on his public standing, but it would pass. He could live with some distrust for a few months, at most it would last a year which would be the most the public was about to remember this.

Thankfully nearly nobody knew of his friendship with Gellert Grindelwald in his youth. All those that could know were long dead and Bathilda Bagshot had been lost to insanity. That flank was secured.

The problem was with Harry being the heir of six pureblood houses; he would wield much political power, which was a threat to his own position. Until now he had voted as proxy for Harry and gotten many of his decrees passed this way. Without Harry's votes that would be a lot more difficult. While he hadn't known about the Ravenclaw and Boldon Lordships, he had used the other three for his goals. The Black Lordship had still been with Sirius, so it had been impossible for anyone to use it.

He had to regain control over Harry, at any cost.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall smirked while drinking a cup of her favorite tea in her office. She had read the article Rita Skeeter wrote and was very pleased how things had gone. Harry would have his godfather back sooner than they had expected. She had asked Orion de Jarjais to come to visit her in her office to discuss how they would handle the situation now, that Harry's godfather and guardian per his parents' will would be freed. Her fireplace flamed up and the Comte de Jarjais stepped out, only waiting to greet her for removing the ashes from the floo travel from his clothes.

"Professor McGonagall, it's nice to meet you again." He greeted her politely.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. de Jarjais. I am glad you could come on such short notice. I believe you have read the article Miss Skeeter has published this morning?"

"Of course. I really enjoyed reading it, I'm sure Harry did too." Sirius answered chuckling.

"I think you are right. He was very adamant to see the man who betrayed his parents punished. This article shows him, that they can finally rest more peacefully after the traitor will be sent to Azkaban. Well, the reason why I asked you here is to discuss what will happen with Harry after Sirius is cleared of all the charges against him. As you know, Sirius was named Harry's godfather by his parents and is therefore his legal guardian. Now you also have applied for guardianship over Harry and I don't want the boy to suffer anymore. He has had a bad enough childhood, so I want to ensure all of this won't bring him any more sorrow in case you and Sirius can't find an agreement."

Sirius smiled. Leave it to Minerva to worry about her little lions. Perhaps he should tell her everything. She was on Harry's side after all.

"I'm glad to see, you care so deeply for Harry. Let me ensure you, there won't be any problems after the trial is over and the charges are dropped." He said.

"But how will you and Sirius arrange everything? I once made the mistake to let myself be persuaded by Albus to let Harry live with his horrible muggle relatives. I don't want to repeat something like that."

"There won't be any problems because there is no difference in Harry's guardian. In fact I thought you would have figured it out by now." Sirius grinned brightly.

Minerva understood suddenly.

"You are such an irresponsible fool, Sirius Orion Black!" She thundered.

"How could you have taken such a risk of exposure? You should have …"

"I couldn't contact anybody at the Ministry in person, Minerva. I was thought to be a murderer and nobody would listen to me when I claimed my innocence. I was sent straight to Azkaban without any chance to prove that Peter was the traitor. Fudge is an idiot who can be bought by those with the most money. He is turning with the wind, never doing what is necessary. And from what I heard he is in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. If I died at Azkaban, his son Draco would have been the probable heir of the Black title. At least that was what Lucius knew. I had already put in my will in 1980 that Harry was my heir and I intended to keep it that way until I had children of my own.

"Crouch was only too happy to show the public results when he sent masses of innocents into Azkaban. And Dumbledore helped him by not insisting on trials. He got rid of lots of opponents that way. I only survived Azkaban, because I knew I was innocent and that was a thought that kept me sane. I broke out because of the article that showed Peter in his animagus form on the picture of the Weasley family in Egypt."

"Huh, where did you get that from?" Minerva asked.

"Fudge left me his newspaper during his annual visit to Azkaban because I asked him if I could have it to do the crossword. It's boring in that hellhole." Sirius explained.

Minerva shook her head. Only Sirius Black would manage to find out a secret like that through a coincidence and only the idiot Fudge would leave his paper behind like that.

"How could I have stayed there, knowing Harry was in danger? I love the boy, in fact I have blood adopted him with the permission of Lily and James' portrait, which was in the Potter family vault. Harry now is my son. And I will do everything to protect him from both Voldemort, when he returns as well as Dumbledore with his manipulations."

Minerva was astonished by the passion Sirius showed. This man had been changed by Azkaban; there was no doubt in her about it. Gone was the irresponsible prankster she knew fifteen years ago when he graduated. This was a man who knew the evil in humans and had decided to not bow before it but fight it.

"Hell, he put several blocks on Harry, including his IQ, his Metamorphmagus ability, his animagus ability, his photographic memory, his analytical skills, his wandless magic and some other nasty things like a muggle enraging curse placed on him. He weakened Harry's magical power with some potions and never bothered to help Harry get rid of the piece of Voldemort's soul that was residing in Harry's scar. Harry was a horcrux until the goblins managed to transfer the soul piece with a ritual and destroyed it. That is the secret behind Voldemort's immortality."

"WHAT?" Minerva shouted enraged.

"Yes, you heard right, he split parts of his soul by killing innocents and stored them in precious objects. We have found out about four and three are taken care of. One was Riddle's diary last year, one was Harry and one a locket of Slytherin, my brother stole from Voldemort, which cost him his life. The forth is Ravenclaw's diadem, which is somewhere here at Hogwarts according to the statement of Gringotts regarding Harry's heirlooms. Thanks to Regulus we know that there are probably seven horcruxes as Voldemort was obsessed with that number. So I am relatively sure that there are at least two more. Probably objects related to the founders, if the diary, the diadem and the locket are an indication." Sirius ranted.

Minerva was stunned. She had always wondered how Voldemort had managed to survive the repelled killing curse from when he tried to kill Harry. But this was horrible. And poor Harry had been one without anybody noticing and helping him? She had sworn to look out for the boy. She had been so disgusted with herself after she had not taken the worries of Harry, Ron and Hermione in their first year serious, that somebody was trying to steal the stone, which had led to the three, especially Harry, getting in massive danger.

"Oh my god. And Albus thinks Harry can deal with this all by himself?" She stammered.

"No, he knows damn well, that Harry can't. I think he fears the potential Harry has. Harry is extremely powerful for a wizard his age. And the older he gets, the more his power will grow. I think Harry has at least the potential for mage level, if not arch mage. He will become stronger than Albus ever was. And that is a threat to his position. So he tries to control Harry completely.

"Why do you think he placed Harry with the muggles that already hated magic? Why did he increase these feelings with a muggle compulsion curse? He had a plan in all of this. When the one the prophecy referred to was clear to be Harry, he made sure, he could control him, when he finally entered the wizarding world.

"Harry was shy and easy to lead into the direction he wanted him to go. Giving him a horrible childhood, Harry would look at the person who rescued him from there with utmost respect and trust. Not letting him know about his heritage would keep the boy ignorant of his influence. Keeping his fame a secret would overwhelm Harry totally when he would be confronted with it, making him feel awkward. Think Minerva, a child, only used to verbal abuse by his guardians, suddenly confronted with being liked."

Minerva had to agree Sirius' argument made sense.

"It is logical that Harry wanted to do nearly everything to get along in this world. It was his salvation from the hell he had known for ten years. And Albus used it for his plan. I don't know what else is involved in this screwed up plan of his. If he just wanted to lead magical Britain, he could have taken the post of Minister when he had been offered the position in the past. There must be more. And I intend to find out what it is. I won't let him harm my son anymore."

Minerva had a hard time to believe everything Sirius had told her.

"Do you really think Albus would willingly put children into danger, Sirius?" She asked skeptically.

"From what Harry told me about his first two years here at Hogwarts my answer is yes, Minerva. Remember, first year he hides the Philosopher's stone at the school, officially to protect it from whomever tried to steal it. But why the hell would he announce the entrance to the place at the welcoming feast to the whole school, where it was bound to happen that students would become curious?

"And why even hide it at the school? He willingly put the students in danger by making it bait for those he thought it would surely attract. What if there had been more open warfare and not the sneakiness Voldemort used by possessing Quirrell? Voldemort has no qualms with killing innocents. He has done it in the past repeatedly. The man has no morals and Dumbledore damn well knows it."

Sirius face showed how disgusted he was with Dumbledore. The man had put his son in danger on purpose two years in a row.

"And a troll being let into the castle? The headmaster would have been warned if the wards were crossed by something so obviously dangerous. They are connected to him. While I doubt he wanted to have Harry face the troll that early in the year, I am sure he was very pleased to see that Harry was displaying Gryffindor traits. Then the fact Hagrid was told about the stone and the hideout. While I know Hagrid is a great person and would never intentionally harm any of the students, the least Harry, he is not exactly reliable.

"By making him drunk and slyly giving him a dragon egg, something Hagrid had wanted since he was a boy, Voldemort got the secret how to get past Fluffy. I still think naming a Cerberus Fluffy is ridiculous." Sirius commented only to be interrupted by Minerva.

"Wait a moment, there really was a dragon at Hogwarts?" She asked pale.

"You didn't know?" Sirius asked surprised.

"No, I thought Harry, Ron and Hermione had made up the story to get Draco Malfoy in trouble. I first caught Draco out of bed before I found Harry and Hermione. I didn't think that Hagrid could be that irresponsible." She said disappointed in Hagrid.

"Yes, I didn't too. By the way, why did you sent three first years into the forbidden forest at night for detention?" Sirius wanted to know.

"I didn't. I only knew that Hagrid wanted them to help with something and I thought that a bit of hard work would be an appropriate punishment. I didn't think he would take them with him into the forest at night." She sighed.

"I see. But back to Hagrid's problems of reliability. He let three first years know things because he slipped up, excuse me, but I think Albus knew the danger of Hagrid not keeping it secret and counted on it, while letting him show Harry to Diagon Alley.

"Minerva, Harry wasn't told essential things, like him being a Lord, how to behave, not even the pamphlets for muggle born children were given to him. While Harry is a pureblood, he was raised by muggles. He knew nothing. Then Hagrid even forgot to tell Harry how to get to platform 9 3/4 . If the Weasleys hadn't coincidentally crossed his path, he would have missed the train. It could have isolated him from the beginning and got him more unwanted attention. Harry should never have had been shown this new world by somebody who was not qualified for the job."

Minerva had to agree. She hated that Sirius was able to destroy the image she had had of her old friend so easily, but she could also tell that he told her the truth. None of the marauders had been able to lie to her. She could see Sirius was talking himself into rage.

"Then the attempt to murder Harry during his first Quidditch match. A teacher cursing Harry's broom and just because Snape wanted to get rid of the debt he owed James, Harry is still alive. It was obvious that somebody who was experienced in the dark arts was doing it, yet Albus couldn't figure it out, when he knows about everything that goes on in this school by either the portraits or the ghosts? Don't make me laugh. I know he has a policy to let students experience things for themselves, but letting a teacher being possessed by Voldemort for a whole year at school? That is going too far.

"I don't know what your reasons were for the individual obstacles protecting the stone, but allow me to say I am disappointed. If three first years could get through, they were not sufficient in my opinion."

"I thought so myself, but something stopped me from voicing that opinion at the time." She said thoughtfully.

"No, that can't be, he wouldn't." She then said furious.

"Put a confundus charm on you making it easier than you intended to do? I think he would. He put an innocent man knowingly into Azkaban because I would have thwarted his plans for Harry. As his godfather I would have had absolute authority over Harry's upbringing. The only way he could get his wishes, was to get rid of me one way or the other. And my own rage, grief and foolishness played into his hands. I am the one to blame that I went after Peter without informing anybody that Peter was the secret keeper. I just thought of getting justice for James and Lily."

"That's understandable. He was responsible for the death of the man you regarded as your brother. Many others would have done the same." She appeased him.

"Yes, and Harry told me that he doesn't blame me for his horrible childhood. And I know you can't change the past or I would have changed the fact we ever made Peter secret keeper. The only thing I can do is making sure Harry gets all the love and help I can give him. He will have to face Voldemort again when he returns. And I will make sure he is ready when that happens. Not as a pawn for Albus' crazy scheme, but as a capable wizard who knows his own strengths.

"But I need to make sure he is properly trained. I know you and Filius are top at your respectable subjects. Pomona is also very capable, while there are some of the more recent discoveries she could involve in her classes. I know Septima and Bathsheba are teaching their subjects well but there are others that don't.

"I don't understand why Divination is still taught, it is useless if you are not adept at the art and even if you are it is not possible to train you at school in it. Muggle Studies is outdated for decades and needs a new curriculum, Astronomy well, I don't know that much about Professor Sinistra but I think it is acceptable. History of magic is useless taught by Binns, he is only good at making students fall asleep. You need a new teacher for the subject. Hagrid is, from what Harry told me, getting better at teaching and the students like his classes."

"Oh yes, it was a pleasant surprise for me to find out he was asking other members of the staff for advice how to build up his classes. Harry seems to have talked to him after the first lesson with the Hippogriff incident and miraculously has gotten through to him." Minerva said smiling.

"Yes, I am glad to hear this. Well, next is Snape. How could that greasy git be allowed to teach children? And in a core subject. While I will admit he knows a lot about potions, that mastery of his was no fluke, he is absolutely incapable of burying the house rivalries and treats all students except his Slytherins like trash. And Harry is the most hated student of them all. I have seen some of Harry's memories. Even if Slughorn was a little shrewd and had his favorites, he at least taught the rest of us equally. He never insulted us, never docked points for ridiculous things like not preventing others from making mistakes while we were concentrating on our own work. And this has happened in Harry's very first class, Minerva.

"I have already begun to teach Harry what he will need. And potions is a subject that he can't let be on a low level just because Snape can't forget his grudge against James. Harry may look like James but he is not him."

"I know, his personality is more like Lily's has been. Always kind to nearly everyone." Minerva confirmed what Sirius had said.

"I know, I quite like his personality. It's hard not to like him. But anyway, after that horrible first year at school, I really want to know why nobody bothered helping Harry to get over his problems with killing Quirrell, but we can talk about that later, he was sent back to his so called relatives. Where a house elf prevented him from getting his mail in an attempt to keep Harry safe from the plot to reopen the Chamber of Secrets. The elf meant well, but he didn't help Harry in the slightest. After a hovering charm on a pudding, which led to his uncle not making a big business deal, Harry got a warning from the Ministry not to use magic. It was his only leverage on his relatives and now they knew he couldn't do anything to them."

Sirius clenched his fists. It had taken a lot of patience, hot chocolate and a whole night to get the story out of Harry. He hadn't wanted to talk about his past. But Sirius knew he could only heal if he talked about it.

"They imprisoned him in his room, put bars in front of the window and he got food through a cat flap. The only times he got out was, when they allowed him to use the bathroom. He wasn't even twelve then Minerva. I am deeply grateful for the Weasley boys to get him out of there. They took Arthur's flying car and got Harry. When Ron and Harry were trying to get to the train the barrier refused to let them through. You know what happened. What you don't know is, that the same house elf was responsible for this. He tried everything he knew to keep Harry away from school. He didn't want him to die.

"Then the Quidditch match where Harry was the sole target of that crazy bludger the elf hexed to try to get Harry sent home injured. The thing I am most upset about is the lack of action when the first victims of the basilisk were found. How could a girl, just thirteen years old, realize what none of the adults saw? I will admit, Hermione had one advantage, she knew Harry heard voices others didn't because he is a parselmouth, but some of the petrifications happened at locations where portraits were.

"Has nobody bothered to ask them if they had seen something? And more important, those of the staff that have been here for a long time, have they never bothered to ask the known victim of the heir of Slytherin if she knew something? I know Moaning Myrtle is not the nicest ghost, but the records should have been consulted to see if you could find any clue of the attacker."

The next part was an extremely touchy subject for Sirius. His son had suffered because the teachers hadn't done their jobs properly. Snape had even taunted him more than usual.

"Then the shunning Harry got when he stopped the snake from attacking another student during the dueling club. Well, he is a parselmouth. And I understand that you were surprised. But why the hell did you let the whole school treat Harry like a criminal? That only led to him distrusting the staff even more, all adults in fact. If he had felt he could have trusted you without being judged, he would have told one of you that he heard voices in the walls.

"That would have enabled you to figure out, that the monster could be a snake after the dueling club incident. But no, logic was never a strength of wizards. You as the teachers had the duty to help Harry. If you suspected him to be the heir of Slytherin, you should have questioned him under Veritaserum. In that case it would have been justified to prove his innocence. And then the students would have believed him. Or if you believed him, then you should have stopped all the accusations.

"Do you know what Harry felt during that time? He already disliked his fame. A fame for what happened that cost him his parents. And then he was the main suspect for this heir of Slytherin farce. He was hurt beyond belief. After what he had done in his first year to save the stone, he thought they would know he wasn't bad. Hell, after what the Dursleys put him through, he thought he could finally find acceptance at Hogwarts, in the wizarding world. And because he did the right thing, everybody mistrusted him."

Minerva was ashamed of herself and the other teachers. When Sirius recounted their behavior and what it meant for Harry it was obvious that they had failed their duty spectacularly. But Sirius wasn't done yet. Like any angry parent he needed to make his point abundantly clear.

"When he and Ron were about to go down to the chamber, they tried to get the joke of a teacher Lockhart, whose lack of abilities they knew very well, informed as they overheard him being about to go down there to save Ginny. They found him packing his things, about to leave. They found out about his stolen fame and forced him down through the entrance in Myrtle's bathroom.

"Harry was separated from Ron as the ceiling came down after Lockhart's failed attempt to obliviate them. He faced off against the basilisk on his own and the only thing he got for help were Fawkes, the sorting hat and through it Gryffindor's sword. Which by the way should be turned over to Harry as he is the heir of Gryffindor. If Dumbledore knew that Harry was fighting again, he should have done everything to stand at Harry's side. Which responsible adult would let a twelve year old boy face a monster that had proven to be able to petrify lots of people and has killed a student fifty years ago?

"I don't know if Fawkes was the one to decide that Harry needed help or if Dumbledore made it that only if Harry showed loyalty to him, Fawkes would appear. But I certainly won't stand for this any longer. My son is not a weapon in Albus' arsenal. I don't care that the damn prophecy states, that he is the one who can vanquish Voldemort for good. What I do care about is that I will make sure he can finally be happy as any normal boy should be. I can't change that Voldemort takes the prophecy serious, but I can make sure that he will regret it if he ever dares to try to kill my son again."

Minerva saw the fierce protectiveness in Sirius eyes. A look she only remembered too well. If Sirius Black was in this mood, he wouldn't stop until he succeeded in what he had set his mind upon. And those who stood in his way should fear.

"I understand Sirius. And I promise to do everything I can to help Harry to prepare for the fight that is unavoidable for him. The problem I see is disabling Albus from interfering with this. Filius, Remus, Pomona and I have already begun concealing Harry's academic progress for the time being. The other teachers know that Harry wants to avoid standing out too much and agreed not to flaunt his remarkable development of abilities during our meetings. I just don't know for how long this will work.

"Additionally we only have time until Albus sees one of Harry's tests. Until now I think he doesn't realize that something has changed except his wandless magical abilities, which he used to save Draco Malfoy. I am also relatively sure he doesn't know of Harry's change in electives as he hasn't asked Bathsheba or Septima for Runes or Arithmancy reports. He just asked about an overall opinion of the new classes. He doesn't seem to have read the article that Rita wrote when Harry returned to Diagon alley at the end of the summer holidays. I think he just got a summary.

"What we would need is a diversion that will take up Albus time for some months. Something big that will ensure he doesn't look too closely into the affairs at Hogwarts. Most of the time he lets me lead the day to day business of the school. Only if really important issues arise he will be involved."

"Would some unexplainable occurrences, which drive Fudge insane and reveal some really dirty secrets of the Ministry, do the job?" Sirius asked grinning.

"Of course. Don't tell me you already have something like that planned."

"Indeed I have. I happen to have come to know two really incredibly gifted young men, who would have been a valuable addition to the marauders. And they have agreed to help me with distracting the Ministry in a very amusing way."

Minerva groaned.

"Why do you have to do this to me, Sirius? The Weasley twins were already bad enough on their own. Now with you encouraging them they will be unbearable." She said.

"I don't think so. But I have to compliment your deduction skills. Well, anyway. They want to exert a bit of revenge for the treatment Arthur had to endure at the Ministry for all those years. And with my, James', Lily's and Harry's help we came up with a truly devious plan to show up the corrupt politicians. I won't tell you about the details, but see it from the positive side. As long as they prank Fudge, you will have a lot less complaints about them at Hogwarts."

"You always had a weird sense for logic, Sirius. Alright. I think we can do this. I will see to it that Albus won't find out about Harry's true abilities as long as I can. The only one who could tell him something is Severus and he most likely would rather drink poison than to admit that the son of his archenemy is doing well in his classes."

Sirius smiled and thanked Minerva.

* * *

After his talk with Minerva Sirius went to the great hall to see if he could find Harry. This was a good opportunity to see his son for a short while under the cover of wanting to see more of the school. He knew it was around dinnertime by now and he expected to find him there eating. When he entered the hall he wasn't disappointed. Harry was talking with Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan who sat on the other side of the table. Hermione and Ron were absent. He didn't need to get Harry to notice him as Seamus pointed at him and Harry turned around.

"Uncle Orion." He said smiling.

"Hey, Harry, glad I found you. Is the food good?" Sirius asked smiling,

"Yes, it is. I'm sure you could also have some if you want to. Oh by the way, these are Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan. They are two of my roommates in Gryffindor tower I told you about."

"Nice to meet you boys. I'm Orion de Jarjais, kind of Harry's new guardian." He introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you too, sir." Seamus said and Neville nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked curiously.

"I was visiting Professor McGonagall. She wanted to ask me some things regarding the coming trial of Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. As Sirius is your godfather, she wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be any problems regarding your guardianship. We think we found a way all involved parties can agree to. I will tell you later when we are alone, Harry."

Harry nodded. He had a suspicion that Sirius had informed McGonagall about the truth.

"What do you think, when we are finished with dinner, do you want to show me around for a bit? As you know I went to Beauxbatons for my education so I am really curious to see more of Hogwarts." Sirius said.

"Of course, Uncle. I will show you around gladly. Take a seat."

Sirius nodded and sat down next to Harry under the interested eyes of the other Gryffindors at the table.

"Where are your friends Ron and Hermione?" Sirius asked taking some potatoes from the pots.

"They had a run in with Peeves and are at the tower changing their clothes. I think they will be here in some minutes." Harry informed him.

"I still don't get how you managed to escape Peeves' chalk dust attack, Harry." Neville said.

"I am just faster than Hermione and Ron. So I managed to dodge the last moment." Harry explained.

"Well, if you are so fast, perhaps I should teach you fencing, Harry. It relies on speed and perception." Sirius suggested.

"Perhaps. I'm still not sure which sport I would like to learn. There are so many that sound interesting." Harry answered.

"Have you at least narrowed them down?" Sirius asked.

"What are you talking about?" Seamus asked.

"Well, Uncle Orion is convinced that it would be good for me to learn another department of sport that will help me to defend myself better, as I have some kind of talent to end up in sticky situations. We have looked up some sports that would be useful for me, but it is so difficult to decide. I somewhat fancy a kind of martial arts but fencing also sounds interesting. Then there is the subject of dueling where a roundabout fitness is invaluable. I just don't know what to choose."

"Well, I hope you will decide soon, Harry. I am sure just running and working out will become boring with time." Sirius said.

"You are working out?" Neville asked surprised. "How come nobody has noticed anything?"

"I stand up at six in the morning, Neville. You are all fast asleep at the time. When I return at half past seven to get a shower only Dean is just about to get up. I don't wonder you haven't noticed." Harry grinned.

"Uh, getting up at six in the morning, no thank you. I will stay unfit." Seamus said.

"Don't let Oliver hear you, Harry." Fred added, who had just sat down with George and both gave Sirius a grin.

"If he heard you he might get nasty ideas for our Quidditch training." George said.

Harry blanched somewhat. Giving his maniac of a team captain more ideas for exercises was not on his list to achieve.

"Point taken, I won't mention it when Oliver is present. I like to do my own exercises. I don't need his weird ideas and obsessive ranting during that time. I like my peace."

It was true. Harry used to run a lap around the lake to get warm and then do push-ups, sit ups, jumping jags, kicks against a tree, pull ups and dodging practice with enchanted rubber balls. Harry had just gotten the trick of getting the balls to fly at him in unpredictable ways. During those exercises, he could relax. It was kind of like meditation in action. Only flying on a broom was more relaxing for him.

Harry and Sirius finished their dinner when Ron and Hermione came down from the Gryffindor tower. They both looked surprised to see Sirius.

"Hello, Ron, Hermione." Sirius greeted.

"Hello, Mr. de Jarjais." Hermione greeted. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I had a meeting with Professor McGonagall and decided to see if I could spend some time with Harry and get him to show me around the castle a bit. By the way I can recommend the pie, it's really good."

"Ah I see, well, we would accompany you and Harry, but I am really starving." Ron said.

Harry chuckled. When was Ron not starving?

"Let's go, Uncle Orion." he said.

* * *

Harry and Sirius left the great hall just when Dumbledore arrived to take his seat at the staff table. He was wondering why Orion de Jarjais was here and why he didn't know about it.

"Minerva, do you know why Comte de Jarjais is here?" He asked politely.

"Oh yes, I asked him to come because of Sirius' trial. He has requested to get guardianship over Harry before the school year started and had been given temporary guardianship until the Ministry could finalize it. Now with the development of Sirius found innocent I wanted to discuss with him how he and Sirius would arrange things. As you know, James and Lily named Sirius Harry's godfather so he is the first person who could claim guardianship. I just want to make sure Harry is in the best possible care. I won't let anything like the Dursleys happen again to the boy." She said with conviction.

Dumbledore internally winced. That was clearly a jab against him. He had been the one to insist that Harry went to Petunia, knowing fully well that this would not be a nice life for the boy to have. But it had been for the Greater Good. Only he could lead the light to triumph. Not some boy who happened to be subject of a prophecy.

"Yes, I know, Minerva. I am so terribly sorry. If I had only remembered what James and Lily stated in their will. But it seems I lost my memories of the details due to this spell that hit me in this battle against Voldemort in Dewenshire in December of 1980. I still can't recollect them even while using my pensieve. I should really have listened to your opinion back then."

Minerva inertly snorted. Did Albus really believe she would fall for such an obvious lie? Oh no, but for the moment she would keep her quiet. Harry needed to stay 'under the radar' as the muggles said.

* * *

**Okay, that's it for now. I hope there are not too many spelling errors, as I don't have access to the Internet constantly, I didn't send this one to my Beta for checking. That will change again, once I get my notebook back or a new one.**

**Until next time.**


	26. Operation Ministry Misery

**I'm sorry for the long wait! This chapter isn't corrected yet, so please don't be too strict, but at the moment I can't do it with no computer regularly available.**

**I hope you still like it. To make up for the long waiting, I have uploaded two chapters at once.**

**Happy reading.**

* * *

**Operation Ministry Misery**

Cornelius Fudge was not a happy Minister of Magic. In fact he was sleep deprived from all those howlers furious parents had sent him about the dementor disaster. Then the thing with Sirius Black. It was a stain on the reputation of the Ministry. Something no politician liked to happen during his reign. Past sins that were not buried deep enough. Well at least the majority of those howlers had been directed at Barty Crouch's office. He had to be thankful for every small favor he could get.

The problem was, with Sirius Black freed, there would be a shift in power. Sirius was the lawful Lord Black. Even if his mother had blasted his name from the family tapestry, his father Orion had never formally disinherited his oldest son, so he would get the title and the seat at the Wizengamot. Until now the seat had been empty as nobody had the right to claim it. The next one they thought inheriting it would be Draco Malfoy as he was the only living male descended from the Black family through his mother Narcissa. But as long as Sirius lived he couldn't claim the title. Except for the now new found information that this seat would also go to Harry Potter as Black's godson.

Sirius Black was the godfather of Harry Potter. A boy who already had massive political weight. The boy was heir to five other important magical families. All of which had seats at the Wizengamot and two of them with veto powers. The heirs of the four founders of Hogwarts were special. Due to the importance of their families and their example in their days, those four families had gotten the right to veto laws. Until now this hadn't been a problem. There hadn't been many occurrences where any heir had used that privilege. But now, if he judged Harry right, it would become really difficult to get some of the laws the pureblood fraction wanted passed through.

Harry Potter was known to be outspoken for equal rights between all witches and wizards. Preposterous if he had to say anything about it. Purebloods were clearly superior witches and wizards. But the boy had been tainted with Dumbledore's ideas for two years.

And Sirius Black, while being raised by an old pureblood family, had always been different, open to the inventions of muggles and flat out opposing his parents' points of view. If he was to become a major influence on young Harry, the boy would be more tempted to oppose the things the Ministry needed to be done.

* * *

Some levels under Fudge's office there was a meeting between Ministry workers who had long waited for an opportunity to get rid of some of the more corrupt politicians here. Fudge and his cronies had nearly ruined the Ministry and if You-Know-Who returned, which according to Orion de Jarjais was only a question of time, and Comte de Jarjais' information source was Harry Potter who had seen the spirit of the Dark Lord in his first year, it would be way too easy for him to get the Ministry under his control.

"So, are we complete?" Rufus Scrimgeour asked.

"Yes, we are, Rufus." Amos Diggory answered.

"Good, we all know why we are here." Rufus said, getting nods from all the witches and wizards.

"Fudge's days as Minister are numbered, we all know that. The scandal with the dementors at Hogwarts attacking Harry Potter was the last drop in his filling water glass. He won't be in office for much longer. The problem is that Fudge is just the head of the Snake we have to kill. For a decade there have been too many former Death Eaters who managed to buy their way out of Azkaban. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott to name just a few. They also bribed Fudge and his followers to get their interests seen passed in the laws.

"We lost one of the few here who was really opposing them as you all know. Arthur Weasley has taken a new job at Juneur Wizarding Technologies and I can't say I blame him. A man can only take so much if he has to look after a family. I still am in contact with Arthur though and he said he was fully supportive of our plans to clean the Ministry of the corruption inside. His new position allows him to tell me of some really fantastic inventions Juneur has brought onto the market in the last decade; those would vastly improve the lives of witches and wizards in Great Britain if they were introduced to our community.

"One point we have to look upon are market restrictions for muggle related products. I never knew what possibilities there were until Arthur showed me some when I visited him at his home."

"So Arthur is happy at his new job?" Desrella Ronins asked smiling. She worked in the Department of Regulation of Magical Breeding.

"Yes, he is. Couldn't be happier. He is earning a lot of money and can tinker with muggle things all he likes." Rufus answered.

"How are we going on about this? Fudge won't clear his office without complaints." Amelia Bones asked.

"We have one supporter he doesn't know we have. Orion de Jarjais informed me that Harry Potter wants to get the Ministry ready for the time You-Know-Who returns." Frederick Rawthorn said.

All eyes were now upon him. Frederick had decided that it would be utter madness to wait until the Dark Lord had gained enough power to push wizarding Britain into another horrible war. No, if they could prevent it early on, he would help to do it.

"From what I have heard of Susan, there are movements at Hogwarts which are doing something similar like what we are attempting to do. The houses of Hogwarts are beginning to unite for the first time in decades if not centuries. It is only starting and some of the more traditionally raised students are very opposed to it, but they only have so much power. The center of it is seemingly Harry Potter. He has told off Percy Weasley for the boy's unquestioningly foolish opinions of the Ministry.

"It seems there are now several student groups consisting of members of all houses who are researching several laws they think are unjust. I wouldn't wonder if you got some petitions from students to do something for house elf rights, Amos. While the students see that house elves like to look after wizards they think that they deserve to be treated kindly. A very good opinion I think. Next, I know the Potter boy will fight for the rights of werewolves. I can't wait to see Dolores' face when he blocks her new laws. It will be priceless." Amelia grinned happily and was joined by the others.

Nobody could stand the pink toad menace.

"Yes, I can't wait to see that. With the boy being in a position to veto any law in the Wizengamot for some time, she won't be able to pass her racist laws anymore. About time I think. I mean, I am afraid of werewolves during the full moon, but I am smart enough to know that only those extremists like Greyback are also dangerous during the time between. The others only want to be left alone and live their lives." Amos agreed.

This was part of his job. While werewolves were mostly human they were classified as magical creatures and therefore had to register at his department.

"I think what we need to do is to find out who the most bigoted members of the Ministry are and isolate them in their positions. We need to find every little bit of dirt they have on their hands to get them out of positions of power. Preferably to get them out of the Ministry but we have to take this in small steps. We can't reveal our hands too early or we will lose." Patrick Healcon said.

"You are right, Patrick. We will have to use our brains for this. The first and most important step is to arrest the Death Eaters that got away pleading on being imperiused. Veritaserum will be essential for our plans. With Fudge out of the way, nobody will stop the DMLE to do a thorough investigation on the integrity of the Ministry. We will plan and prepare to do this step by step. Like those children at Hogwarts are beginning to do, we will unite all the qualities the four houses are representing. We will be smart like Ravenclaws, brave like Gryffindors, loyal like Hufflepuffs and cunning like Slytherins. We will show our world what the founders had in mind when they built the school." Amelia agreed.

They all nodded in consent and then began to list the persons who would give them trouble while achieving their goals. None of them were aware that they would get a fabulous distraction for Fudge in two days time. But they would be thankful nonetheless.

* * *

It was Saturday. The twins, Harry, Sirius and Remus were getting ready at Grimmauld Place to go to the Ministry. Thanks to a clever device the twins had developed to act as a beacon for apparition and which had an inbuilt silencing charm for the arriving party, they would be able to apparate into the office of Amelia Bones without anybody being any the wiser. They knew, the office would be empty today as the whole Department of Magical Law Enforcement was outside.

The aurors were busy with organizing the trials for Wormtail and Sirius, getting the security around Hogwarts checked and had a new lead on an escaped Death Eater. The rest was at a meeting for some big event, probably the upcoming Quidditch World Cup next summer. Well, they would use the near empty Ministry to their advantage. Sirius had placed the device in Amelia's office during a visit a week ago, when she had asked him to come by for some information exchange.

The last preparation was to disillusion the whole group, so even if a sole member of the Ministry staff was working at the weekend, they would not be discovered. For this operation a disillusionment charm was way more practicable than Harry's invisibility cloak. They took their positions around the device which was the counterpart of the one in Madam Bones' office and channeled their magic into it.

The twins had explained, that the device worked in a similar way as a portkey, but couldn't be traced as one. While a normal portkey was a spell, this device was based on old Egyptian runes the twins had learned from Bill during the summer holidays. Harry really wondered how anybody could ever underestimate the twins' brains.

They landed with a small pop in the office of Amelia Bones and promptly began to split up to get their pranks set up all over the Ministry. Sirius would take the offices of Fudge and his personal staff, Remus those of the Department for Control of Magical Creatures, Fred had the Atrium and way to the Department of Mysteries, including all the courtrooms, George would take care of the lifts and the fifth floor and Harry had the sixth and seventh floor with some not so important offices. They had planned, that they would need three hours to set up the whole thing.

They worked swiftly and silently, even if they only met one wizard that stopped in his office for five minutes to get some papers and left soon after. Harry took care to place small disillusioned devices on every door on the floors he was working at. They had decided, that they would prank each floor in a different way and that they would set it up so that the pranks would be completely unpredictable. It would start harmlessly in those offices where the employees of the Department of Magical Games and Sports worked. They thought they would most likely be able to laugh at the pranks. Next would be the offices of the magical reversal squads, they didn't want them to stop the pranks after all.

Then the next was the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Barty Crouch was meant for severe pranks that Sirius personally had thought up. The man wouldn't have a single quiet moment if Sirius had any say in this. And he had. For the blatant abuse of his position to send people to Azkaban without a trial, he was a figure of hatred in the group.

In the period of a week the whole Ministry would be victim of the well thought up pranks. And that would probably mean, that they would ask for help at Hogwarts as they didn't have enough experts at reverse charms at the Ministry. Oh yes, sweet revenge. And Dumbledore would be nicely distracted.

* * *

Harry sat next to Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. He tiredly ate his dinner and soon excused him to go to bed. It was just half past seven, but he was really tired. He had been up since four in the morning and then had been setting up lots of pranks at the Ministry. For some of the pranks he had to use spells and so he had used a lot of his magic. He just wanted to sleep for some hours. Ron and Hermione had done a great job to cover for him and the twins.

As the twins often disappeared to plan for one prank or the other it hadn't been difficult to make something up. And for Harry they just acted as if nothing was wrong. They spent some time at Hagrid's and when he asked about Harry, they told him, that Harry had a letter he wanted to write to his uncle and that he had already pushed it to the weekend and felt bad if he didn't write today. They told Hagrid how nice Harry's uncle was and that he had given them the money for their sundaes at Fortescue's when they had gotten their school things.

They also ranted about Harry's horrible muggle relatives and how glad they were that Harry was finally out of there. Hagrid whole heartedly agreed and also told them what he thought of those horrible muggles. How he had had to rescue Harry on his eleventh birthday to make sure he got his letter and came to Hogwarts. Nobody at the castle was missing Harry as everybody thought he was with Ron and Hermione and as they were not in the castle it was logical to think Harry wasn't as well and with them.

The two returned to Gryffindor common room at the time Harry and the twins had told them they would probably return. One hour before dinner. And they came. Looking utterly exhausted but with very smug looks on their faces. Their looks told Ron and Hermione everything. It had worked well. While Hermione was a bit disappointed that they would prank the highest authority in the British wizarding world, she could agree that it wouldn't harm anybody and that those corrupt workers didn't deserve any better.

The next morning Harry was up again to full power and the three did some leftover homework together. Harry decided it was time to ask his friends about their decisions.

"Hey Hermione, I wanted to ask if you had decided about dropping Divination and Muggle Studies." He said.

"I have thought about it Harry. I can see that Trelawney doesn't teach us any real things about how to predict the future. And as useful as Muggle Studies are for wizards who have been raised in the wizarding world, it really is severely outdated. I had hoped you were mistaken and they just wanted to start small with easier understandable things. But it is all about technologies, that aren't used anymore or were updated. I think you are right. I will talk to Professor McGonagall to drop those two subjects."

She didn't look happy, but Harry could see a relieved look in her eyes. The workload she would save would do her good in the end. He knew she only did this because she couldn't deny his arguments. He had taken the only road possible to convince her. The use of the subjects for her life. If he had argued only about her ability to manage all the work, he would have lost. Hermione was too proud for this road.

"Ron, what do you think about my suggestion?" Harry asked his best friend.

"Well, I really hate Divination. We only learn how to make gruesome death predictions. Then Trelawney is happy. I am really sick of trying to make up things which won't happen anyway. I have no problems with ditching the subject. And I have asked mum if she could send me Bill's old Arithmancy book to get a good impression of the subject. I have to say it sounds interesting. So I agree. I will switch subjects. Hermione, what do you think, do you want to go to McGonagall together to get it over with?" He asked.

"Yes, I think that will be best. Harry, do you want to come too?" She asked.

"Sure. We can take a walk outside after it and finish the essay for Snape when we return. That's the only thing left on my list." Harry answered.

They put away their books and materials and then left the common room for Professor McGonagall's office. When they reached the door, Hermione knocked.

"Come in." They heard the voice of their head of house.

Hermione led the three of them inside. Harry as the last of the group closed the door behind them. The witch was seated behind her desk and was grading some essays.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter. What do I owe this surprising visit?" She asked.

"Professor, Ron and I would like to change our electives. I have taken the last months to get an opinion of the new subjects and I would like to drop Divination as I can't learn the subject from books and a teacher if I don't possess the gift of being a seer and I clearly don't and I also want to quit Muggle Studies. While it is interesting to learn about it from a wizard's point of view, I have found the material severely outdated and as a muggleborn witch I don't need the subject."

"I understand, Miss Granger, and I have to say, I am glad you have taken your time to think this through and make an informed decision. For my own curiosity. You said the material is severely outdated. How much have the muggles improved the things they use compared to the things you were taught in the classes by Professor Burbage?" Minerva asked.

"Well, the technology covered in the course is from the 1940's perhaps 1950's. None of the inventions that were made after 1950 have even been mentioned in the textbook and I have read the whole book." Hermione answered.

Minerva was shocked. Not that Hermione had read the whole textbook, that was normal for the smart witch, but that their classes were behind time by at least 40 years. The whole purpose of Muggle Studies was undermined that way. No wizard would be able to blend in with the muggles if he followed his knowledge from this class. She hadn't thought Sirius' information had been correct.

"Thank you for this information Miss Granger. I wasn't aware, that we were so far behind the developments of the muggles in our material. I will see to it, that it will be changed. But I think it will have to wait until next year as the textbooks for this year have already been bought and I don't think it would be possible for all our students to get new ones during the year."

"If I may make a suggestion, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Of course, Mr. Potter." Minerva answered.

"Well, I had an idea how we could help all those here in the castle who want to learn more about the muggle world without producing massive costs. I mean, we have lots of muggleborn witches and wizards who live here in the castle. Why don't we ask some of the fourth and sixth year muggleborns from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor to give tutoring to small learning groups. I suggest the fourth and sixth years because they have had enough time to integrate fully in the magical world and are not pressured with their O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, which would undermine the purpose of the tutoring.

"They could be rewarded with an extra credit on their N.E.W.T. result list. I know in the muggle world this kind of extracurricular activity is seen very positive when it comes to decisions for an employer which one to take for a job. Perhaps this could also work in this way."

Minerva smiled proudly. Harry had really made huge steps since the end of last year. She could see how Sirius influence had done wonders for the boy's behavior. He was less reserved and it was obvious, that he was now able to think things through.

"That's a great idea. I will speak with Professors Flitwick and Sprout, as they are the heads of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. But I think we can build some study groups this way. So now I think Mr. Weasley also wanted to change his electives?"

"Yes, Professor. I want to exchange Divination for Arithmancy. I, like Hermione, see no sense in taking a subject, which I can't learn and after speaking with Harry I thought Arithmancy might be something I could like. I already asked my mum to send me Bill's old books for the subject and have already begun to learn the things Harry and Hermione said they have covered in the last months."

Minerva was really surprised. She would never have thought for Ron Weasley to take his education serious. But with the change of attitude in Harry it was not that unbelievable.

"Of course Mr. Weasley. I am glad to hear this. I don't see a problem with this change. I will inform Professors Trelawney and Vector of this. I hope you get up to the stand the Arithmancy class is at the moment on your own, but I am sure Mr. Potter and Miss Granger will help you to reach it."

Hermione and Harry nodded smiling.

"Well, if this was everything you wanted to ask me, I would like to send you on your way. I have to grade these essays until tomorrow and I think you three can spend your time better than entertaining this old lady." She said earning a few chuckles from her little lions.

"Of course, Professor, thanks for your help." Harry said and led the other two out of the room.

When the door was closed behind them, Minerva couldn't help it but smile fondly about the change that has been happening since Sirius breakout. And she would make sure it stayed this way.

* * *

The Ministry was in uproar. Somehow there had been several incidents which made the normal procedures impossible to uphold this day. The whole team of the Department of Reversal of Magical Accidents had been transformed into owls. And the rest of the Ministry was trying to find out how to turn them back to their normal forms. They had no clue how the transformation had happened and to make things worse, the specialists in this field were the victims. Victims who were showing their displeasure about the incompetence of their colleagues with picking at them when they tried wrong spells or sprouted nonsense.

The ones that had gotten away best were the ones working in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. They were changing colors and hairstyles every five minutes. Most had taken it with humor and were betting on the next change. Ludo Bagman was no help at all at reversing the effects as he was the one setting up the betting pool. Not that Fudge believed the fool would be able to do anything about it, but hell, he was the department head.

Fudge was rotating and trying to get some healers of St. Mungo's to help them, but they were all really busy. It was the time of the year where usually some of the older witches and wizards were prune to magical infects and maladies. They couldn't spare any healers as they were already working overtime to make sure none of the ill patients were getting in a fatal state of illness.

The next option were those who had the abilities to work in the targeted department, but preferred to work in others or were not of the right blood status to qualify for the prestigious jobs there. But did he have a choice? He had to get the department running again. Then there was Hogwarts. The teachers, especially McGonagall, Flitwick and Dumbledore would probably be able to help reverse the effects. But he didn't want to depend on Dumbledore. That would be fatal for his political standing as the man was clearly at fault for the Potter and Black disaster.

The next thing happening he would get crazy about. He was sure of it. His door was opened.

"Cornelius, we need you at the …" Umbridge yelled before she was replaced by a white cloud and a pop was heard.

Fudge looked at the place where his loyal employee had been just a moment ago. A big pink toad with a black bow tie was sitting on the floor croaking.

It was just too much for the Minister of Magic. Forget pride. He was calling Dumbledore.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was smirking. The headmaster had called her into his office to tell her he needed to go to the Ministry to help there to undo some cases of inexplicable transformation and that she was in charge of the school for the time being. Oh yes, she would use this time well. What Albus was forgetting was that as acting headmistress she could initiate some things up to a certain level. Approving the new Muggle Studies tutoring was one of these things. Albus didn't need to know this though.

She had the distinct impression, that Fawkes, who had returned after taking Albus to the Ministry was grinning. It was hard to tell with a phoenix, but she got this feeling, that the fire bird didn't approve of Albus' actions. Well, she would use the time she had to the best of her abilities. Sadly she couldn't tell off Severus for how he treated everybody except his Slytherins, but she could give the other heads of houses a tool to see if the punishments of their students were justified or not.

This way the heads of houses could just give the points back, which were taken wrongfully. And Albus would only find out if he checked all of the day's paperwork, what he would never do voluntarily. He was quite willing to let her handle most of it.

"Tell me, Fawkes, where would you place paperwork that Albus has no need to see immediately?" She asked the phoenix.

Fawkes gave an amused trill and looked at a sideboard.

"Good idea, Fawkes. I think I will follow your suggestion. It's high time that the ridiculous point system was brought back to its original purpose without Severus meddling with it or Albus giving points to his favorites."

"Well said, Minerva." The sorting hat said.

"Thanks. It's rare for you to speak with somebody outside of the sorting." She answered.

"Well, most of the time only Albus is here and it is depressing to talk with a man who has allowed to be overwhelmed by his ambitions. He is delusional of his own position. He seeks for glory and ignores the other people. I find it quite amusing that Mr. Potter has gotten out from under his thumb. Albus' rants are really interesting. I would advise you to up your occlumency. He is sure to try and pry information from the students and teachers sooner or later if he thinks something is amiss. For the moment he will be distracted by the things happening outside the school. But when those distractions have been dealt with, he will try to find a way to regain control of Harry Potter."

"I know. We are already trying to conceal Harry's true abilities from Albus. As long as Harry can learn undisturbed, he will be better prepared to face You-Know-Who, if he returns like Harry and his guardian believe he will. I am inclined to trust their opinion. He isn't dead and he is powerful enough to find a way to get back a body for himself."

"I know. I have seen his mind when I sorted Tom Riddle. He was always ambitious and cunning. But he could have been saved, if the right steps would have been taken. A magical child, who was clearly disliked by his muggle guardians at the orphanage. He was a child, who wanted to stay in the magical world, who wanted to be special. If Armando and Albus had taken the initiative to find a suitable magical family for Tom, he would not have turned out utterly evil.

"And Albus has learned nothing from that part of history. He has purposely placed Harry with his magic hating muggle relatives to make him suffer. To have the boy formable by him. He didn't realize that if Harry had not found true friends in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, he could have become the next Dark Lord."

"My god. I didn't realize that it was such a close thing." Minerva said shocked.

"There aren't that many differences between Harry and Tom. But Harry hates bullies, because of his cousin. If he had believed, that the wizards were no better, he would have set his mind to make it happen. He would have taken measures to ensure that those bullies were taken care of. And if there were nobody to stop him from delving too far into the darkness, what do you think would have happened?

"He is a boy, a child which never got attention at home. An abused child. If they are not treated properly, they tend to become bitter and hateful. They can become a danger to their fellow students. I wanted to sort the boy into Slytherin for some time, he had a strong urge to prove himself, but he insisted on another house. Funnily he didn't prefer Gryffindor, he just didn't want to go to Slytherin, I think Mr. Malfoy's behavior was an important factor in his decision."

"Oh that is rich, a shame, that I can't rub it into Severus' face. It would be funny to see how he would react to the thought, that the son of his school Nemesis was nearly sorted into his house. But Harry wouldn't thank me for this. He is happy in Gryffindor and from the looks of it, he is slowly uniting the houses."

"Yes, that is one other point Albus rants about. While he always speaks about the unison of the houses in public, he really does everything to ensure it never happens." The hat said wisely.

"Well, too bad, that now he has an opponent in the boy he thought he could control and who has a lot of political standing. I mean heir to two founders and four other noble and most ancient houses. It's normal for the other students to be most interested in him."

"Yes. By the way, you should tell the boy that he can gain the lordship of Slytherin as well by right of conquest. Sometimes it is rather amusing how those ancient and overcome laws of our world can still be used." The hat chuckled.

"Wait, you mean because he defeated You-Know-Who he can claim his title?" She asked shocked.

"Of course he can. The law originates from 774 and is still valid. It was really popular in those times to challenge other nobles to gain their title and properties. Under Arthur Pendragon's reign the fights died down because Merlin managed to get the wizards to behave more civilly, and the law became forgotten. Only a few knew about it. One of them was Rowena. But then again, she knew about all the laws, even the curious ones. She thought it better to not say anything about it to not wake sleeping dragons and give new fuel to those fights."

"But wouldn't it be better to keep this a secret? I mean a lot of pureblood families would abuse the law." Minerva argued.

"Not if it is done in secret. Harry has found the Chamber of Secrets last year. If he goes down there again, which he really should do to claim the corpse of the basilisk he slew, he can claim the title of Lord Slytherin in Salazar's own chamber. Quite ironic how history goes, don't you think? Magic had her own ways to balance things out. If people would just let her champions grow without negative outside influence things wouldn't be as bad as they are now."

"Yes, it is. I will have to contact Harry and his guardian in secret without Albus becoming suspicious. Hm, the problems at the Ministry will occupy him for some time. I think I will let Harry know what you suggested and then give him short notice when to do it and how."

"That would be the best, Minerva. Tom has to be stopped from ever again gaining enough power to start a new war. The last one was bad enough. If we don't act quickly, there won't be enough wizards and witches left to save the magical society in Britain."

Minerva nodded and left the office to go and find Harry.


	27. Trial of the Century

**Trial**

It was finally time. They had waited long enough and today Sirius would become a free man again after twelve years of injustice. Harry and Sirius had both donned their best official robes. They had permission from Minerva for Harry to be present at the hearing. That the Minister was intent on not angering the future Lord was an added bonus. Even Dumbledore had not dared to interfere in this. He already knew that he couldn't do anything against Sirius getting his trial and being cleared of all charges. As soon as Sirius took Veritaserum the case would be lost for Albus. So he could only go along with this, as much as he hated to do so.

But he didn't have any time to plot a good strategy to keep control over Harry while sorting out the whole mess at the Ministry. If he didn't know that it was impossible for the Weasley twins to have gotten out of the castle, he would have sworn they were the culprits. But neither twin knew how to apparate, they were too young and nobody could apparate inside of Hogwarts' grounds anyway. He was sure, that he had heard the two laugh hard when they read the Prophet. Somehow Rita Skeeter had gotten the story and had promptly written an article that didn't show the Ministry in favorable colors. Sadly none of the things she had written was a lie. There was no angle to attack her from.

Terms like incompetence, shortsightedness and corruption were mentioned. Well, many of the high ranking Ministry officials only got their positions by using their connections within the pureblood society on which Fudge built his power base. The purebloods, knowing that Fudge favored their ideas, naturally took advantage of his stupidity and managed to gain many benefits from his leadership phase.

It hadn't done the Ministry any good. As jobs, which normally needed a certain level of competence, were given out as favors to Fudge's supporters, many things didn't work as they should. So whoever pranked the Ministry knew that if they eliminated the ones who were able to reverse spells and their effects first, they would gain utter chaos in the center of the government. And he had to admit they had been good at what they did.

He didn't know how they had gotten into the Ministry without anybody noticing them and he didn't know when it happened but he intended to find out. He couldn't have anybody being able to keep him away from Hogwarts to help the useless fool Fudge for long periods of time. He had to regain control of the boy after all.

Harry and Sirius stood side by side at the Atrium of the Ministry. They had taken the floo from Amelia Bones' home. They had agreed that it would be the safest way to go to the Ministry. Madam Bones had also made sure to have two aurors that were solely loyal to her present to give the right signal to outsiders. The head of the DMLE was taking this case very serious. And she would make sure that nothing happened to Sirius under her watch. She knew everything about the so called accidents that sometimes happened when inconvenient facts for powerful players at the Wizengamot were likely to be revealed.

Not this time. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody would make sure of it. Many would call her insane for asking 'Mad-Eye' Moody to do this job, but the old auror was one of the best and a fierce fighter for justice. He would do what was right, not what the higher ups wanted.

"Are you ready, Sirius, Harry?" She asked.

"Of course, Madam Bones." Harry answered calmly.

By now he had mastered the pureblood etiquette and was acting his part perfectly. He knew how to show the proper respect to his elders but also knew to use his station to bar those who abused their authority (Snape), from using it against him. Amelia Bones was the Matriarch of the House of Bones and therefore high in the social ranking. As he was heir apparent to houses that were equally high or higher placed than her house, it was required from him to act with utmost politeness and respect but not to buckle down.

Well, it was easy to respect Amelia Bones for her integrity and her success in the Ministry anyway. There weren't that many high positioned women in the Ministry. Harry had learned from Sirius that it was mostly due to the traditional way of working things. The man in the house was seen as the head of the family except in few houses that were traditionally matriarchal. Contrary to the muggle society of the middle ages, where women were seen inferior to the man, in the wizarding world they were equally respected.

The decisions about the standing and business of the family were the responsibility of the man, but the wife of the head of house ruled over the members. She decided how the children were brought up, what subjects they were learning, what punishments they got in case they had done something wrong and which of their friends were allowed to visit at their home.

Only witches that weren't the matriarch of their families, went out and worked. They were tasked to increase the wealth and gain new valuable connections for their families. The sons also had those tasks. But they normally went and worked in the family businesses if they existed. A prime example for that were the Malfoys. Lucius was the one doing business and held political connections, while Narcissa ruled the family and made sure the pureblood high society was aware of their wealth and power. Power and money in the wizarding world were closely connected and the best way to keep a high position was to show off that wealth. Narcissa organized the charity events that had played a big part in keeping Lucius out of Azkaban, and maintained a close network with other pureblood witches. While Draco looked up to his father, he had been raised by his mother to follow the pureblood ideals the Blacks had valued for centuries. Draco would take over the family business, except Lucius managed to lose it all before Draco could take over, and his wife would be educated by Narcissa until she was ready to take over as the new matriarch.

With the small birthrate in the wizarding community of Great Britain this meant that many houses were merged over the years. There just weren't many families that had more than one or perhaps two children, so finding a suitable husband or wife was a big topic for all the young witches and wizard that attended Hogwarts from third or fourth year on. Harry was aware to those facts thanks to Sirius. He would be one of the main targets for young witches in the coming years.

So Amelia Bones combining both a career in Law Enforcement and being Matriarch of her family was a rarity.

"I am looking forward for my parents finally getting justice and my godfather finally being freed of those accusations some people thought to be the truth without even trying to prove them." His voice was icy.

Many people in the atrium were shocked. And they only had themselves to blame for going along with the process. Nobody had thought that Sirius could be innocent. They had all just assumed the worst. After all, he was a Black, a member of a traditionally dark family.

"I really hope the Wizengamot is not built by stupid bigoted sheep that follow a leader just because it is convenient. I know I would hate to have to use my powers just to get things that have been let run in bigoted ways straightened out to what they should be. I am sure you understand that, Madam Bones."

"Of course I do. And I agree. Some things have to change."

Sirius just grinned. Harry had just remembered the whole audience, that he as heir of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had vetoes at the Wizengamot. The heirs of the four founders could stop laws if they found them discriminating or unjust. And Harry knew it. He had had several long chats with the sorting hat about some things after Minerva had told them; for example that Harry could claim the Slytherin Lordship, which he had done. They had found some really interesting things down in the chamber of secrets. It turned out Salazar himself was glad to have a worthy heir if you could believe his portrait down there in a hidden compartment.

Voldemort had never been able to find this part of the chamber as he was no pureblood. Ironically Slytherin didn't really hate the muggleborns, he just came from a time, where witches and wizards were hunted and feared by the muggle population. When your whole life was filled with being on guard because the muggles were narrow minded fools, who always accused those they disliked to be witches and wizards and the Christian's wars were not really helping the issues, then you tended to be careful who you trusted with your secrets. Especially if the lives of your family were at stake.

It wouldn't do for those you held dear to be persecuted and killed just because some people, who were raised in a different culture couldn't keep magic a secret. So he had argued with the other founders to keep learning magic a privilege only for magically raised children. He was outvoted by the other three. With time a simple argument between Salazar and Godric over how to protect the school better, which ended with Slytherin leaving to cool down for some days, really, that had been normal between the two and Rowena and Helga were betting how long it would take Salazar and Godric to cool down this time, had been blown up into Slytherin leaving the castle forever because he wanted nothing to do with the ways things were done there.

Really, did historians really believe that one of the greatest wizards of his time would be that childish? He and Godric had gotten over their argument as usual and some time later Salazar had been asked to assist a magical village in Bulgaria with a werewolf problem, for which he left the castle with the blessings of the other three.

When Salazar heard what Tom Riddle had done, he had been furious. Even his preference of purebloods never included killing all the muggleborn children. What he intended was more like spotting them early in their lives and bring them to the wizarding world to be raised so that they would not be naïve to the ways muggles thought of magic as if it was the product of Satan. It would have been necessary to take them from their families but with how they were treated if they were found out it would be the better way. A simple _obliviate _would do the trick to make the parents forget about the magical child.  
Hell, muggle children died all the time due to bad medical possibilities that time. Making the parents believe that their child had died because of an illness would be easily believed.

Muggleborn children raised in the wizarding world were treated indifferently by Slytherin when they came to school until they proved to him that they fully accepted the wizarding traditions. What really ticked Salazar off was that Riddle had dared to kill lots of pureblood families just because they were opposing him. Pure magical blood was valuable and under no circumstances was allowed to be shed for petty goals of power. After all, there were only so many wizarding families. Extinct blood was lost forever and with it overall magical power.

When Harry had approached Salazar with his claim for the title by right of conquest Salazar had tested Harry's claim and his abilities in parselmagic. He had been able to clear up some questions Harry had had about his active powers which had been blocked until last summer. After the tests Salazar Slytherin had acknowledged Harry as the new heir for the title of Lord of House Slytherin and told him where he had hidden the family ring.

* * *

Harry and Sirius were looking around seemingly uninterested. Harry looked at the fountain of a witch, a wizard and three magical creatures.

"I have rarely seen such a display of lies." He commented the fountain much to the dismay of some people around him.

"I agree, Harry, but this is how our society is, they are so ready to believe the most ridiculous things." Sirius replied.

"Really? They should take courses in common sense from what I have seen so far. I mean come on, goblins and centaurs worshipping wizards? I have met centaurs in the forbidden forest during my first year and I can tell they are proud, as are goblins. I thought history would have thought wizards something. I seem to have been mistaken."

"Sadly. But I think we should make our way towards the courtroom. It is time for you to learn something about our court system, Harry."

"As long as they follow their own laws I am all for learning about wizarding culture. I just have problems with the wizarding society behaving worse than the muggles."

Many wizards flinched at the jabs. Being compared to muggles, whom Harry had not the best impression of due to his childhood in Surrey, was a low blow. Harry was thoroughly enjoying himself. Making those pompous fools uncomfortable was just too funny.

With the utmost aura of confidence Harry and Sirius strode down to the courtrooms in company of Madam Bones and the two aurors whose mouths, Harry could have sworn, had twitched during his show.

They reached the doors to the courtroom where two chairs were placed next to each other. Sirius nodded towards Harry who embraced him before leaving toward the seat reserved for the Gryffindor family. He figured it would be good to remember the Wizengamot just who he was. He might not be able to vote for his father, but he sure as hell could make sure nothing would happen that was against the laws. And he had studied them as much as he could. With the sorting hat being delighted to help him. He had told Harry it was much more interesting than just sitting in the headmaster's office all year.

Sirius took his seat and the chains at the chair sprung to life and bound his arms. Sirius just took it in stride. The next thing the assembled members of the Wizengamot saw was two dementors bringing in Peter Pettigrew, who was whimpering. Harry felt the cold but managed to stay awake by putting a chocolate ball into his mouth. Remus had gotten them for him in Hogsmeade.

Then something happened nobody had thought of. After putting Peter in the second chair, where he was immediately bound, one of the dementors charged at Sirius, attempting to kiss him. Harry just exploded. He instinctively knew what to do from his Wizengamot seat.

"_Expecto patronum justicia maxima._" He yelled, pointing his wand at the charging dementor.

Blinding light erupted from his wand and a bright shining stag shot forward to protect Sirius from the dementor. When the patronus threw the dementor across the room using his antlers, something strange happened. The dementor seemingly shrieked and then dissolved into dust in the light of the patronus. The other one followed soon after the light of the patronus filled the whole room. Harry was standing, shaking with fury.

"By the power of the houses of the founders of Hogwarts, by the power of the law binding the Wizengamot I, Harry James Potter, heir apparent to the houses of Potter, Boldon, Peverell, Black, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, demand that the ancient power of the Wizengamot, given to this entity by Merlin himself, punishes the one who gave the order for the dementor to strike." He ordered.

His tone was full of authority and all the members of the Wizengamot felt the powerful surge that leapt through their bodies. What kind of power did this boy have to control the ancient power of the Wizengamot itself?

The culprit was found soon enough. Delores Umbridge suddenly clutched her head and cried in pain.

"Delores Jane Umbridge. You have been found guilty of attempted murder of a man, brought before the Wizengamot to receive justice." Harry spoke.

"Your actions have been found despicable. The Wizengamot's power comes from the law, not what some people think would be best for their goals. Therefore the ancient power of Wizengamot has decided that you are not worthy of wielding magic. Let it be told through me that your punishment had been dealt by ancient magic. You will be stripped of your magic. Your magic will be added to the power in the Wizengamot given freely by Merlin at the end of his life. By law of the Wizengamot so mote it be." Harry intoned and Umbridge cried out as she felt her magic leaving her.

Many were now in uproar.

"How dare you do this, Potter?" Malfoy yelled.

"Lord Malfoy, it would be wise to keep your temper." Harry answered calmly, still projecting his immense power.

"This was not my decision. I only was the voice for the magic of Wizengamot itself because of my status as heir to some of the founders as there sadly are no descendants of Merlin left today. Otherwise it would be their job to rein in the members of Wizengamot to do their job properly. Wizengamot is disgusted how some of its members have abused their powers in the past and wants me to let you all know that it won't tolerate this anymore.

"Merlin left orders for this body to treat all magical beings as equals. In the past you have broken those orders. I have been told to give you the following message by Wizengamot: 'Beware my anger, you won't like my enmity. Follow the laws or you will be dealt with accordingly. I am Wizengamot, born by the old magic and I am above all ideals. I am bound to law and Merlin's orders. I am Wizengamot'." Harry finished his message.

Many people in the audience could be seen paling. This was serious. If the ancient magic of Wizengamot decided to speak, they had to obey or risk losing their magic like Umbridge.

Dumbledore decided to call the members to order. He was furious that Sirius was rescued, he didn't know that Harry was capable of such strong magic. He would have to look out more for the boy. Then he relaxed slightly as he saw the boy sit down at his seat exhausted. Perhaps it was just the ancient magic which decided to use the boy's heritage. If he was as powerful as it seemed some minutes ago, he wouldn't be this exhausted. But how had he managed to destroy the dementors?

"Members of the Wizengamot, we need to proceed. We are here for the trial of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew." He called out.

"You are right, Chief Warlock Dumbledore. We have to proceed with the trials to finally speak justice after twelve years." Madam Bones agreed.

Harry stiffened suddenly.

"Members of my halls." He called out with a different voice.

"I have decided, that due to conflict of interests neither Chief Warlock Dumbledore nor Minister of Magic Fudge will be allowed to preside this session. I, Wizengamot, call for Lady Augusta Longbottom, as one of the longest standing members of this body, to preside in my name for this session."

Many were whispering intently. Never had they experienced for the spirit of Wizengamot to speak directly to them. And through such a young person as well.

"You may wonder why I chose Harry to be my voice." Wizengamot continued.

Sirius face was slightly worried. He just hoped, that Harry would not suffer from the possession by the spirit. He knew the spirit of Wizengamot was a good one, but he couldn't help but be concerned for his son.

"Don't fear for Harry, Lord Black. He won't experience any damage by being my voice. He just is the only person I can use to speak through due to his heritage. It has been too long since I was able to make my opinion known. For some time now all the founder's heirs that took their places were either corrupted by power or too weak of mind to be capable to speak in my name. I think the last one died seventy years ago. He is a very interesting boy. He will be great if he is allowed to grow up undisturbed."

Sirius relaxed slightly. Many others were discussing the words of the spirit.

"Now onto business. Lady Longbottom, do you agree to preside this session?" Wizengamot asked.

"Yes, it will be my honor, Wizengamot." Augusta Longbottom answered.

"Then so it will be. Continue with the trial."

Dumbledore grumbling left his place and Augusta took his seat. Dumbledore took place in his family seat.

"Alright. This is the trial of Lord Sirius Orion Black, head of the noble and most ancient house of Black and Peter Patrick Pettigrew. Presiding Lady Augusta Longbottom as substitute Chief Witch; Chief of Interrogation, Lady Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Court Scribe Ryan Marcus Fennybal." Lady Longbottom announced.

"Madam Bones, you have the floor." She added.

"Thank you, Chief Witch Longbottom. We are here to finally close the case of the betrayal of Lord James Potter and Lady Lily Potter as well as their infant son Harry to the Dark Lord Voldemort in 1981."

Many in attendance flinched at the name. Amelia had practiced hard over the last months to not do so.

"These two men were both accused of the crime. Furthermore they were accused of killing twelve muggles with a single curse. The old accusations against Sirius Black also included murder of Peter Pettigrew which obviously was wrong, as the supposed victim is alive and sitting before this body.

"The investigation report states, that a questioning of Peter Pettigrew under Veritaserum in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, done by Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, brought up his confession of being a Death Eater. He admitted under veritaserum that he was the secret keeper of the Potters and told their hiding place to Voldemort.

"He also admitted to have killed the muggles in question and blamed Sirius Black for his crimes. To escape he transformed into his animagus form, a rat, after cutting of his finger to give the impression of having been killed. The memory of the questioning has been provided to the Wizengamot by Minerva McGonagall as evidence to clear Sirius Black of all charges against him."

Amelia paused to let the information she gave the members of the Wizengamot sink in before she proceeded.

"Additionally we have the oath of potions master Severus Snape, that the veritaserum was brewed correctly and worked as it was supposed to do. Statements of the witnessing students at Hogwarts as well as the teachers in attendance were taken. We also have the statement of Remus Lupin who confirmed that in fact all Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black became animagi during their time at Hogwarts. They never registered their forms with the Ministry due to it being an advantage in the fight against Voldemort."

More whispers were heard at this. Fudge decided to be stupid and argue.

"Be this as it may, being an unregistered animagus is against the law. And both of these men have done so. They have to be punished for it."

"Silence, Minister Fudge, or you will be asked to leave the chambers of Wizengamot." Augusta Longbottom reprimanded him.

"I personally think keeping an advantage like that a secret in a time where you couldn't know who your enemies were, very thoughtful." Amelia Bones said.

"Remember, we couldn't tell, who was working for Voldemort and who was not. And curiously, the Ministry declined all tries for legalizing the questioning of all prisoners under veritaserum. It would have spared us a lot of headaches to be honest."

"I as Wizengamot agree with Madam Bones and due to my given authority legalize the questioning under veritaserum for every accused who is tried before this entity. If the members try to abuse this privilege I will interfere though." Harry said with Wizengamot's voice.

"Wizengamot, I would like to know, why you are speaking through Harry, if it was Merlin who gave you your powers." Dumbledore suddenly asked.

"You said it was due to his heritage, but I still don't understand."

"That is easily answered. I am sure you all are aware that Merlin took young Arthur Pendragon under his wing and taught him to become the best possible king for England. Well, Merlin, after his student was taken to Avalon to sleep until he was needed again, decided that he didn't want all his knowledge to be lost when his time to die came. So he took four other bright students and taught them his abilities. They were known as the greatest witches and wizards of their time after this.

"Perhaps some of you have guessed, whom I am referring to, they were from different parts of the country. They were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. And with Harry being descended from Godric on his father's side and Rowena on his mother's he was the best choice for me to speak to you all. After all, in some way the four founders of Hogwarts were the heirs of Merlin. They ensured that his knowledge wasn't lost to our world."

This brought excited chatter from the members. To find out that the founders were taught by Merlin himself were sensational news.

"Thank you for this explanation, Wizengamot. I would like to continue with the trial now." Augusta said.

Amelia Bones continued with her speech.

"Members of Wizengamot. I will now proceed to administer the veritaserum to Sirius Black." she said.

Sirius opened his mouth and put his head back to ease her job. His eyes glazed over.

"What is your name?" Amelia asked.

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Were you ever a supporter of Voldemort?"

"No, never."

"Were you the Potter's secret keeper?"

"No that was Peter Pettigrew."

"Why did you choose him?"

"I would have been the obvious choice, being James' best friend. So we decided it would be a good plan that I distracted Voldemort and his Death Eaters by being the decoy, so that James, Lily and Harry were protected. We chose Peter to be the secret keeper, because we thought he would have been the least likely choice. He wasn't that strong magically, but we thought he was loyal to us."

"How did you escape Azkaban?"

"I transformed into my animagus form, a black dog that resembles a Grim. I was very thin and was able to slip through the bars in my cell and swim back to the land in that form."

"What made you decide to escape the prison after twelve years?"

"The article in the prophet Fudge left for me that showed the Weasley family in Egypt. I recognized Peter in his animagus form and knew he would be able to harm Harry if Voldemort returned. I had to protect Harry. I had promised it to James."

"Do you know of any Death Eaters of Voldemort who escaped Azkaban?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, McNair, Everon, Long."

Outrage was heard from those who had been accused. A strong silencing charm went through the chamber, originating from Harry's seat. Seemingly Wizengamot wanted to see justice done for once. Amelia continued her questioning.

"How do you know they were Death Eaters and not under the imperius curse as they have pledged to have been?"

"I was held in a cell near my cousin Bellatrix. She was cursing them often for not being loyal enough to the Dark Lord. I think she knows more."

Now the faces of the silenced Death Eaters were pale. If Bellatrix was really questioned under veritaserum, they were screwed. Meanwhile Sirius was given the antidote for the truth potion.

"From what we have heard, I think we have an easy decision to make for this case. Everyone in favor for finding Sirius Black not guilty of the charges against him?" Augusta asked.

All the hands in the Wizengamot went up, the accused dearth eaters seemed to be unable to move and didn't raise their hands.

"All in favor of guilty?" she asked again.

No hands went up.

"Sirius Black, the Wizengamot has found you innocent of all the charges against you. Please take the utmost apologies from us in name of the Ministry of Magic. You will be provided with a compensation of 50.000 galleons for each year you have been imprisoned. You are also demanded to register your animagus form with the Ministry, regarding the times of the war, you won't be punished for not doing so before and due to being unable to do so when the war stopped."

Sirius smiled and the chains that bound him fell from his arms. He was looking up to Harry and saw his son smiling brightly. Now they could finally be the family they were meant to be openly. Sirius went to the stairs and went up to follow the rest of Peter's trial from his family seat. Before he could sit down, he had to prevent falling down due to being tackled happily by Harry.

"You are free, you are finally free." He said, hugging him.

"Yes, I am and now you can finally live with me as your parents wanted it to be." Sirius answered.

"I don't think so." Dumbledore said, thinking he had found a way that prevented Sirius to interfere.

"During your inability to be there for Harry, another man has gained custody of Harry. The Ministry of Magic granted custody for Harry to Comte Orion de Jarjais just yesterday."

"Where is the problem?" Sirius asked completely catching Dumbledore of guard.

Harry was laughing now. This was the best prank ever. Oh the old fool deserved this.

"I thought you would understand. If Harry lives with Comte de Jarjais, he can't live with you." Dumbledore said.

"Well, sadly you are not fully informed, Dumbledore. While I was trying to prove my innocence and to protect Harry, I needed a possibility to do so. I could hardly use my own name and appearance, so I went to the only ones, I thought who could possibly help me if I proved to be innocent of the accusations. I went to the goblins. As I am seen as a friend of the goblins and never was convicted, they didn't have any problems with helping me.

"Lily's and James' will clearly stated that Peter was their secret keeper and not me. So I took an inheritance test to see if I had some title that I could use to protect Harry. As I knew from Hagrid, that you intended to have Harry live with his muggle aunt and uncle when I tried to get my godson after James and Lily died, I knew I had to get him out of there. Everybody who had ever bothered to talk to Lily about her family knew that Petunia hated magic.

"To be able to help Harry, I had to be able to lead him through the requirements of our society. He is after all the heir of six important pureblood houses. Well, I knew of five of them, Ravenclaw was a real surprise to me. But I am drifting off. The inheritance test showed me two other Lordships next to the Black one. I used the one nobody would connect to me. I used the title of Comte de Jarjais to make connections in the magical world that I knew would help Harry in the long run.

"Honorable people who didn't want that, when Voldemort returned, he would destroy our world again. Like he did all those years ago when he was powerful."

"You lied to gain guardianship of Harry Potter." Fudge accused him.

"No I didn't. My title is Comte de Jarjais and my second first name is Orion. I never lied. And to complete your information, as I am a nice guy after all…"

Some of the people who had allied themselves with Orion de Jarjais chuckled at this. He was right and being honest with themselves, to have the power of the Black family supporting their goals was even better than a newcomer from France.

"Can I tell them?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Sure, Harry." Sirius answered.

"My name is no longer Harry Potter. My name is Harry Potter-Black. I have been adopted by Sirius Black as his son through the ritual of blood adoption under the full moon and I couldn't be happier about it." Harry said.

Dumbledore had to fight to keep his calm. That damned boy had ruined everything. Now it would be impossible to control him and lead him on the path that had to be followed to get rid of Voldemort for good. The path that would enable himself to be the savior again. Worse he had to endure looking at Sirius embracing Harry and the happy face of the boy. Why couldn't things work in his favor?

Amelia smiled at the happy males before continuing with the trial of Peter Pettigrew. After all, this was the second main point of this session.

"Well, let me express my congratulations to the House of Black for its new member and heir. Can we proceed with the trial of Peter Pettigrew now?" She asked.

Augusta nodded and called the audience to order.

"Peter Pettigrew, do you deny any of the accusations against you?" Amelia asked.

"I had no choice. He was gaining power in all places. If I hadn't done what he wanted, he would have killed me." Peter wailed.

Many looked disgusted at the man in front of them. They could understand fear of Voldemort, but to betray their friends because of it and join an evil wizard was just sick. If he had fled it would have been different.

"Well, I think we will play the copy of Minerva McGonagall's memories now." Amelia said and poured the content of a vial she had on her person in the pensieve in front of the chairs for the accused.

She waved her wand over the basin and the whole assembled members saw the interrogation of Peter Pettigrew at Hogwarts. Cries of outrage were heard in the chamber.

"Quiet!" Augusta called the members to order.

Sirius just hatefully glared at Peter. If he wasn't sure that Peter's fate would be sealed within some minutes, he would kill the man personally. Nobody threatened his son and got away. And he had to pay for what he did to Lily and James.

"We have heard enough. I just want to interrogate the accused about information regarding the Dark Lord Voldemort's reign of terror. We have a perfect opportunity to find out more. Administer the veritaserum Amelia."

Amelia followed the order and forced three drops down Peter's throat.

"What is your name?" she asked to check the effect of the potion.

"Peter Patrick Pettigrew."

"When did you join Voldemort as a Death Eater?"

"July 1978."

"Have you supported him before?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Half a year."

"Who did recruit you?"

"Barty Crouch junior."

"How did he think of you?"

"He coincidentally found out that I was unhappy with my life. I wanted recognition and power and helping Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix didn't give me that. It was always about James or Sirius who got the recognition."

"What kind of missions did you do for Voldemort?"

"I slipped into guarded buildings, copied important documents, falsified auror reports so that they didn't have the important information at the right time. I poisoned several of the Dark Lord's enemies without anybody ever figuring out just how the Dark Lord managed to make his opponents die without a trace of intrusion in their homes. It helped him to keep the population in fear. I also told him the locations of several supporters so he could give an example what happened if you opposed him."

"What did you do to become a Death Eater?"

"I caught a mudblood witch, raped her while several other Death Eaters watched and in the end I killed her."

"Who?" Amelia dreaded the answer.

"Stephanie Cooler."

"WHAT?" Sirius shouted.

All eyes fell upon him.

"You, you, how could you?" Sirius yelled obviously enraged.

Due to the veritaserum Peter answered this question.

"Easy. I chose her to be my initiation victim just to hurt you, Sirius."

Harry grabbed his father's hand, seeing his distress.

"Who was that woman, Pa?" He asked timidly.

"My girlfriend and she would have become my wife, if she hadn't suddenly disappeared one day, only to be found three days later dead in the middle of Diagon Alley." Sirius answered shakily.

Tears flowed down Sirius face and Harry did what Sirius had done for him so often. He hugged his father and hoped it would be enough to help him through this.

"Lord Black, do you want to leave and return for the final vote?" Augusta asked sympathetically.

She could fully understand Sirius. She had lost her only son and her daughter in law to the cruelty of the Death Eaters. She knew how it felt to loose loved ones. And to find out that a man, who you had trusted with your life had done something this horrible just to hurt you, she was absolutely disgusted with Pettigrew.

"No thank you, Chief Witch Longbottom. I want to know, I have to know so I can close that episode." Sirius answered with a strained voice.

"As you wish. Madam Bones, please continue."

The whole time the interrogation continued, Harry held his father's hand. Sometimes Sirius grabbed a bit harder when a particular gruesome crime was revealed but he kept his composure. Sadly Peter didn't know more unknown Death Eaters. He hadn't been up high enough in their ranks.

"We will now make our verdict." Augusta said.

"All those who find the accused not guilty?"

Perhaps five hands went up. Harry made a point to remember these faces. Even the supposed Death Eaters were not stupid enough to vote for innocent. With the confessions of Pettigrew it was clear as day that he was guilty.

"All in favor for guilty?" Augusta asked.

Nearly all the hands were up now.

"The accused was found guilty of the crimes he has been brought before this entity for. I declare his punishment to be given the dementor's kiss."

"Now, Chief Witch." Dumbledore interrupted.

"While I completely agree with you, that he is guilty, don't you think, it would be enough to put him into Azkaban for life? We mustn't take a live if we can prevent it."

Harry stiffened and again Wizengamot used his body to speak.

"No, it wouldn't be enough." He said.

"That man has betrayed and terrorized the people of this country. It is foolish to believe that keeping him in Azkaban wouldn't bring more problems upon the wizarding society. Additionally, Azkaban won't be safe for much longer. As soon as Voldemort returns, he will gain the support of the dementors again. I, Wizengamot, advise you to find different possibilities to keep your prisoners away from their old master. If you don't do this, you will weaken your own position in the next conflict."

Fudge couldn't keep his quiet anymore.

"This is ridiculous. You-Know-Who is dead. He died when Harry Potter survived the killing curse." He stubbornly declared.

"Foolish man!" Harry-Wizengamot thundered.

Fudge shrank in his seat.

"Don't believe I wouldn't know of what I am speaking. Your incompetence here in Britain made it even possible that one man with a small group of fanatics was able to gain that much power. If you had stopped him early on, you could have prevented the war. But you secretly agreed with his foul goals. Yes, it was so easy to follow the words that promised to make wizarding Britain a pureblood society.

"It would have granted you the power you so desired. But everybody who can count, can easily figure out the flaw in that system. You don't have enough pureblood witches and wizards to keep a stable population without weakening magical power. You need fresh blood or all the children born to wizarding parents would end up as squibs. Merlin knew this and three of his apprentices understood it perfectly. Salazar was a bit stubborn about it, but he knew that killing muggleborns was the wrong way to solve problems."

"Wait, Salazar Slytherin was the one who wanted to kill all the muggleborn students at Hogwarts. That's the reason he built his Chamber of Secrets under the school." Dumbledore interrupted only to be hit by a red flash from his seat.

His face shortly twitched at the brief pain he felt. Obviously Wizengamot hated being interrupted. And Dumbledore had done it twice now.

"You know nothing about Salazar. He was a brilliant man and all those fairy tales how he left the other founders because of their different opinions are the result of stories being transformed with each new telling. Godric and Salazar were both hotheads. None of the two would give an inch in an argument. But they were the best of friends. Salazar's real position, which has been lost in time was to take away magical children from their muggle parents as soon as they were discovered to keep the magical world a secret.

"For many children that would even have been best in those times. They were discriminated and hated until they were taken to Hogwarts. Most of the times even after. Many decided to build their own lives in the wizarding world early on, because their parents were threatening them with death. Today it is easier because the muggles have found many things to explain magic and natural occurrences like storms and plaques with science. They are also mostly more open minded than in the past. So while Slytherin indeed preferred magically raised children, he didn't mind muggleborns as long as they were fully integrated in the wizarding society. After all his master was a muggleborn wizard, he would have been a hypocrite to deny Merlin's power. But Camelot and its ideals were uncommon in the world. It took time for tolerance to spread." Wizengamot explained.

"And the story of him leaving Hogwarts over an argument with Gryffindor and them dueling?" Asked Augusta Longbottom interested.

"Was an almost weekly occurrence. It was that normal that Rowena and Helga had a betting pool for how long it would take the looser of the previous duel to come back. They also corrupted their houses to participate in the bets much to the chagrin of Godric and Salazar when they found it out. Especially as their own students thought it would be great to earn a bit of money with the bets and also took part in them."

Now many members of the Wizengamot were laughing. That was history they could enjoy. A lot of them had been victims of the sleeping torture of Cuthbert Binns at some point in time and welcomed a chance to learn something nobody really knew.

"Wait and what is the meaning of the Chamber of Secrets then?" Fudge demanded to know.

"Well, all four founders had their special place in the castle. Salazar just was a bit more ambitious than the others so he built a giant chamber underneath the school. When the chamber was finished and he showed it to the other three, Godric joked the chamber was big enough to raise dragons or basilisks in it. Well, Salazar wanted to protect the school from outside attacks and thought it was a good idea. Ambitious as he was, he looked for the creature that could live longest, it was more showing Godric up than anything else, and finally settled on a basilisk. He was sure he and his heirs would always want to protect Hogwarts and would use the power of the basilisk for it. Sadly this good intention was abused by Tom Riddle, who is also known as Voldemort."

This got a lot of shaking heads. That sounded so much like two immature boys trying to show each other up. They had a hard time believing that the founders were so competitive that one would carry it that much too far.

"Well back to the punishment of this scumbag here." Harry-Wizengamot said.

"He has committed crimes against humanity. But putting him in Azkaban will not suffice justice. He has abused his gift of magic so he will be stripped of it. But before that he will endure the judgment of soul ritual. In this ritual all his good and bad acts will be seen. He will relive all of them from the point of view of the recipient. This will replace the suffering from the dementors. After the loss of his magic he is to be obliviated and placed into muggle prison for five years. You can forge the papers for it easily."

With this Harry sat down again and slumped against Sirius shoulder, clearly being very tired.

"Harry, are you alright?" Sirius asked concerned.

"Just so tired, Pa. Wizengamot had a lot to say and it put a toll on my magic. I just want to sleep." He murmured.

"Did you hear everything Wizengamot had to say?"

"Yes. He is a nice guy. But he really dislikes what has become of our country."

Harry's eyes dropped and soon he was breathing evenly, obviously asleep.

"Can you please give the verdict, Chief Witch Longbottom? I would like to take my son home so he can sleep for some hours before I send him back to Hogwarts. Being the voice of Wizengamot was strenuous for him." Sirius asked politely.

"Of course, Lord Black. Are there any opposing the punishment given by Wizengamot?" She asked.

Very few raised their hands. Fudge being one of them. He was known to rely on the dementors for punishing criminals.

"Those in favor?" She asked again.

Most hands went up, including Sirius'.

"Peter Pettigrew hear your verdict. You will undergo the ritual of soul judgment in one hour. After this your magic will be sealed forever and your memory modified. After completing a five year sentence in muggle prison, you will be released into the muggle world to never again return into the magical one. So mote it be."

Pettigrew was taken away sobbing uncontrollably. The ritual of soul judgment was known to leave the one it was used upon insane if they were at all able to function afterwards. Well, at least in case if the person had committed serious crimes. And it was painful.

"This concludes this meeting of the Wizengamot. The accused persons to be Death Eaters are to be escorted to the Ministry holding cells. Their trials under veritaserum will be scheduled soon. Lord Black, I think it would be best if you took your son home now, he has had a strenuous day." Augusta said.

"Yes I will do so, thank you, Chief Witch."

Sirius lifted Harry in his arms and carried him out of the chamber ignoring all attempts of other members, especially Dumbledore and Fudge to speak to him, and simply went through the mass of reporters.

"I will give a statement to the happenings today tomorrow at one o'clock p.m. If you would now excuse me, my son has to go to bed to regenerate from an exhausting task. If you want more details ask Deputy Chief Witch Longbottom or Lady Bones. They will answer truthfully."

With that Sirius accompanied by Moody left the reporters. Many were shouting about him calling Harry his son.

"You know you have poked into a hornets nest, Sirius?" Moody asked.

"Yes, Alastor. But don't you think it is high time to remind those vultures of reporters, that they should report the truth? Our society is getting more and more stupid with time because they just believe what the newspapers print. And if they print lies, it is much easier for those who have evil intentions to succeed."

"Wow, I would have never thought you would get wise one day Sirius." Moody said impressed.

"Well, I had no choice. Azkaban does this to a man and I also have a son to care for now. And I will not fail him again. I let my emotions get the better of me in 1981. I would never have thought that I would spend twelve years of my life innocent in that hellhole. I just wish I never had let Hagrid take Harry away from me that night. He was the only thing that could have prevented me from giving into my rage against Peter. But without him I acted stupid and those who want to control everything used my mistake."

"You mean Albus right?" Moody said.

Sirius was surprised.

"Don't look so surprised. I am more than I seem to be. Why do you think Amelia chose me and not one of the active aurors to protect you? Nearly everyone thinks I am only an insane retired auror, but I am not. I work for those who are outside the control our dear Minister wants to have over everyone. And retiring from my auror position kind of freed more of my time for this much more important job. Those who really know how to catch Death Eaters are not those who are solely trained as aurors Sirius. Perhaps something you should think about in your quest to prepare your son for what is unavoidable. Voldemort's return." Moody mysteriously explained.

Sirius was more than surprised about this. He would never have thought Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody to be part of that department. Few knew about their purpose and he had only heard rumors. What the MI6 was for the muggle government, was the SMF-3 for the magicals. The rumors were that Special Magical Force 3 worked independently as a sub-department of the Department of Mysteries. Only those belonging to this unit really knew that they existed and what they did. In the last war there were rumors that such a unit existed but nothing was sure.

"SMF-3." Sirius mumbled.

"Actually we are called different terms depending on our specialties, but those rumors sum roughly up what we do. Interested to join? You would be great with us, Sirius, and the kid too. We have had our eyes on you and him for some time now. Great work getting the goblins involved by the way."

"You knew?" Sirius asked.

"Of course we did. When you went to Azkaban without a trial we investigated the case. We found it more than fishy that you of all people would go dark. We never found the ultimate proof as even we did not know about Pettigrew being an animagus. Would have been the missing link we needed. I mean, seriously, a man being blown up and only leaving a finger? No big bloody splash? No shatters of bones? Even a gas explosion leaves more remains. Burned corpses of the muggles who were closer to the explosion were more complete than the remains of Pettigrew. But no, we have the culprit, don't let us think about anything else. Fools all together.

"With all the witnesses being obliviated and Albus telling you were secret keeper, Crouch decided to send you to Azkaban without regard to your rights. And Albus let him. Only thing, he didn't leave any evidence for us to use. The only ones who could have told us what happened were you, the bystanders, who were fooled, and Pettigrew himself. That left you and they probably thought every kind of evidence would die with you in prison. I'm glad you survived with your brains intact."

"Believe me, me too. I don't want to imagine what kind of evil plans Harry would have to struggle against on his own and with his abilities blocked like they were. I want him to be happy. He deserves it. While I know he has to be prepared, I also want for him to enjoy life as much as he can. Most of his childhood was stolen from him. And I intend to at least make up for some of it. And those who try to interfere will learn what it means to anger a Black. The kid gloves are off. Nobody threatens my son and gets away with it, least of all too many names Dumbledore."

They reached the fireplaces in the atrium.

"Think about my offer, Sirius." Moody said.

"I will. Thank you for your help. I will call you to tell you my decision." Sirius answered.

Sirius threw the floo powder into the fire, called the address and vanished with Harry.


	28. Aftermath of a Historical Trial

**Hi, here is the long awaited update for this story after I updated four others last week. I hope you like what I came up with for this chapter. **

**Now that I have a working computer with internet again I will try to update at least one of my stories every weekend. **

**The usual disclaimer is up. **

**Thanks to all those that left reviews. Now happy reading.**

* * *

**Aftermath of a Historical Trial**

When Harry returned to Hogwarts the next day at lunch, he was greeted by massive applause by the Gryffindors and also some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins were mostly reserved while many children of those who had been named as Death Eaters sneered at him. But they couldn't do anything. Malfoy was sulking. Now with Harry being the adopted son of Sirius Black, his chances to inherit the Black title upon the death of his mother's head of house were zero.

Some of the older Slytherins tried to figure out how to use Harry's new position to their benefit. Being allied with the chosen speaker of the spirit of Wizengamot would definitely be beneficial for their families and their own ambitions. It was just too bad, that Harry Potter wasn't overly fond of most of Slytherin house after the last two years he spent at Hogwarts. And few were honest enough to confess, that it was their own fault. They had been the leading party in his isolation in the previous year. The rest of the students had been too stupid to see that if Harry Potter had truly been the heir of Slytherin they would have protected him for their own benefit, not ostracized him.

Harry was slightly on edge because he feared Dumbledore would now try to interfere with his life more than before, but his father had clearly told him that if Dumbledore wanted to speak with him in his office, he was to get Minerva to attend too. And like Harry had suspected he was called to Dumbledore shortly after he had finished his lunch. Harry went to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall, would you please accompany me to the headmaster's office? I was told that he wants to meet with me, but my father has instructed me that I am only to speak with the headmaster if you or my father were present at the same time." He explained.

"Of course, Mr Potter-Black I will gladly accompany you. I am interested why he wants to see you." She replied.

Minerva was not happy with Albus' behaviour. The only reason for him to call for Harry would be if it somehow concerned his schoolwork but Albus didn't know how well Harry did in class and even then he shouldn't call the boy. This was obviously another of Albus' stupid plans to take control of the boy. But she would stop this nonsense here and now.

They reached the gargoyle that hid the entrance and Minerva gave it the password 'jelly slugs' and they took the stairs up. Minerva knocked at the door and they were called in.

"Ah, Minerva and Harry. Nice of you to escort Harry here, Minerva. I don't want to keep you from your duties, Minerva, I just have something to discuss with Harry." Albus said smiling with twinkling eyes.

"I'm sorry, Albus, but Mr Potter-Black's father has given clear instructions that his son isn't to be left alone in your presence. He doesn't trust you anymore after you left him in Azkaban all those years. Either myself as Mr Potter-Black's head of house or Sirius is to be present. As his father Sirius has the right to demand this." Minerva stated.

Albus was clearly not amused. Damn Sirius. This made his plans so much more difficult.

"I understand. Well, what I wanted to ask is if you could tell me more about your experience with the spirit of Wizengamot Harry. I am curious as such an event is unheard of." He tried to keep his calm.

"Excuse me, headmaster, but that is private. And I would really prefer if you would only call me for school related things that my head of house can't deal with. After the things I have learned about what you have done, I have some difficulties to trust you as I did in the past. I don't like to think that a man I admired as a wizard condemned me to a decade of abuse at the hands of my relatives and broke the trust my parents put into him as witness to their will. That this man didn't do his duty as Chief Warlock and made sure that everybody got a trial before being sent to Azkaban. Those are inexcusable offenses, Professor Dumbledore, and at the moment I have problems to see the sense in them." Harry denied the request.

Harry's words hit as hard as he had intended them to do. Dumbledore could do nothing against the truth under the watchful eyes of Minerva. He inertly frowned. This was more difficult than he had expected. Perhaps getting some distance for a bit would be best to mend the relation with the boy.

"I understand, Mr Potter. I was just curious as you can perhaps understand." Dumbledore said.

"My name is Harry Potter-Black, sir." Harry said politely. "Being adopted gave me a happiness that I have never before experienced and I want to honour my father by wearing his name. I will never forget my birth parents and what they did for me, but Sirius Black is now my father and I want to honour him like I would James Potter if he was alive."

That was another hit to Dumbledore's plans. Harry was becoming his own person. He displayed a strong personality, something that couldn't be allowed to continue if he wanted his plans to succeed, but with Minerva present he could do nothing against it. Additionally as an acknowledged founder's heir Harry had the protection of the castle itself. He wouldn't be able to use the ghosts or portraits to spy on him like he could on the other students. A founder's heir was entitled to a private space that the ghosts respected above anything else.

His best bet was to leave moulding Harry to Severus. The man's undying hatred of James Potter and in conclusion his son Harry would keep Harry humble. And Sirius was never that brilliant at potions that he could tutor Harry into becoming so good in the subject that Severus couldn't find something to punish the boy for.

"Of course. It is just a matter of being used to call you with your birth name. Please forgive an old man his quirks." He said falsely repentant.

"Apology accepted, Professor." Harry answered. "May I leave now? I still have some homework to complete after my absence for the trials."

"Of course I don't want to keep you from your studies." Dumbledore reluctantly said.

Harry nodded and left the office while Minerva stayed. When the door closed she glared at Dumbledore.

"Albus, just leave the boy alone. He is still adjusting to this new situation. After everything you put him through you should be careful what you do in the future. Your reputation has taken a major hit and you don't want to be in a position of disadvantage when You-Know-Who returns, as you have told me for years. If you lose your standing, you won't be able to do the necessary things to stop his ascension. We both know that Fudge is a fool and won't be able to lead the Ministry through a crisis of that proportion. And while Harry could rally those who are against You-Know-Who behind him, if he comes back too soon, Harry will still be too young to be the leader against the Death Eaters. The boy is only thirteen after all." She told him off.

Albus was miffed on the one hand that she dared to criticize him but mollified on the other that she thought of his importance in the fight against Voldemort. And he could accept her advice as valid. If he lost his good public standing he wouldn't be able to lead the light and be seen as the saviour once again. While losing total control over Harry was a problem, as long as the public still saw him as the leader against Voldemort, he would be able to achieve his goals. He would have to adjust his plans a bit, but as long as he didn't totally drive the boy away, he would be able to succeed.

"You are right, Minerva, I am sorry. I probably lost the details in the bigger picture. I am concerned about the many attempts Voldemort made to return. Two attempts in the last two years are a reason to worry. And sadly Harry will be affected by this when Voldemort returns more than anybody else."

"Then you should probably support Harry and help him by giving him things to learn or information about his opponent. Information can be a big advantage and Harry needs every advantage he can get. You-Know-Who has decades of experience on Harry, something you could level a bit. Think about it, Albus. I have to go, my next class starts in fifteen minutes." McGonagall said clipped.

"Of course, Minerva I will think about your suggestion." Dumbledore answered.

Minerva left the office, allowing herself a small grin. Albus didn't suspect anything. She was sure he would think how to manipulate the situation to his advantage. For the moment Harry was safe and could learn all he wanted. The teachers kept his level of abilities quiet and Albus would look for something he could give away without telling too much like always. This should give them another month or two. And there also were the Christmas holidays.

* * *

Petunia Dursley was sitting in her living room thinking about the new gossip she had heard from her neighbour living at Number 7. The British Economy was turned around by this new noble who had appeared a few months ago. The man was really secretive and obviously intended to take over big parts of the economy. The best part of the gossip was that nobody knew how this man looked like. He kept his privacy and did his business through emissaries. Naturally all the house wives in their residential area were speculating what kind of man he might be.

She heard the door, signalling that Vernon was home. She stood up to greet him, intending to get his opinion about the new economical player. When she saw Vernon, he seemed a bit worried.

"Hello, Vernon dear, how was your day?" She asked.

"Hello, Petunia dear. Well, I will be busy the next few months. I am sure you have heard about this noble upturning our economy?" He asked back.

"Yes, we had a nice five o'clock tea at number 7 and discussed how he was taking over so many businesses in so short a time." She confirmed.

"Well. Obviously he isn't only doing business in his own name but also in the name of his adopted son, some kind of Lord who is still attending an elite private school for some years. The name of the son is kept a total secret to protect the boy from vultures that would try to get close to him for his wealth. This son is the majority stock holder of Grunnings. All our departments are ordered to do a thorough accounting to spot waste of resources and eventual fraud. We are also evaluated for our performance in our jobs and social life.

"Petunia, is there any way that we can prevent the freak from ever returning here? It would look bad if he was ever seen with us. As you know we told the neighbours that he attends St. Brutus to avoid them ever finding out about his unnaturalness. Couldn't we just tell them that there was nothing the school could do and that he now is locked up in a juvenile facility or so? Then we would be portrayed as the relatives who really tried to make him into a valuable member of society but sadly failed. It would be a dark spot but we did all we could." Vernon suggested.

"I don't know, I have written those freaks a letter that we don't want to see the boy ever again. Do you think they would investigate the matter in depth? You know if they checked the enrolment list of St. Brutus they will find out that the boy never attended there." She reminded him.

"I don't think so. We have the backing of the neighbours who will attest that the boy never made a normal impression. So we shouldn't have to fear anybody finding out about the freak being just that, a freak of nature." He said.

The Dursleys set to have dinner not knowing that their fate was already decided and the consequences of their neglect and abuse of their nephew over the years would come back to bite them soon.

* * *

Harry sat in a compartment of the Hogwarts express with Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville. It was the first time he wouldn't spend Christmas at Hogwarts but with his father. He hadn't managed to worm out of his father where they would go to. He had just grinned and told him it was a surprise.

During the weeks between the trial and the start of the holidays Harry had managed to convince Neville to change his elective from Divination, it was just cruel what Trelawney the fraud did to Neville with constantly predicting his death, to Care of Magical Creatures. While Neville was worried that he would get hurt by the creatures or anger them with his clumsiness, Harry had ensured him that Hagrid was giving interesting lessons that were still perfectly safe. And Harry was proud that Hagrid was following his suggestions how to still show interesting creatures without endangering the students. Harry had accompanied Neville to Professor McGonagall to ask her permission for Neville to switch classes. As both boys promised to make sure that Neville caught up with the rest of the class until the end of the year, she had no problems allowing the change. Secretly she was glad that Neville got out of a class where the teacher constantly predicted his death.

She knew Augusta was a bit overbearing and had sometimes ridiculous ideas what her grandson should be like, but she also knew that she loved Neville. If she just could see beyond her expectations of Neville being more like Frank when he had so many character traits of Alice. Thankfully a long discussion between Minerva and Augusta had made the matriarch of house Longbottom see reason that a non-compatible wand would only hold Neville back and not allow him to find his true potential.

The third weekend into the school year he had gone to Ollivander's and finally got his own wand. The results were immediately noticed by his teachers as he began doing spells right by the end of a lesson instead of the third lesson on a topic.

At the moment Hermione and Ginny were discussing some rumours Parvati had spread just before the carriages were timed to take the students down to Hogsmeade station. Harry watched Neville getting trounced by Ron in chess while reading a muggle fantasy book. He still thought that muggle novels were better than wizarding novels. Perhaps because for wizards most things weren't fiction but reality, they had problems coming up with interesting stories. Well, except for Lockhart but he really only stole the fame of others so he didn't really count for thinking up good stories.

The normal visit from Malfoy was interesting.

"You will regret what you did, Potter." He said menacingly.

"It's Potter-Black." Harry answered calmly not even looking up from his book.

"You think you are so great but you are only a poor imitation of a pureblood you blood traitor," he spewed his cronies behind him threateningly flexing their muscles.

"You are just jealous that my family goes farther back than yours Malfoy. And your father was arrested because the spirit of Wizengamot was tired of all the corruption that has taken hold in the wizarding world. I was only the speaker the spirit used. And you can't really think the spirit Merlin created would keep quiet forever, do you?" Harry didn't even raise his voice, which made Malfoy even angrier.

"You will get what you have coming to you, Potter, when the Dark Lord returns you will regret your actions." He said.

"Fat chance, Malfoy. And I told you it's Potter-Black. Tom Riddle is probably in hiding again because he is so weak after losing his body in 1981. He had two thwarted attempts to come back and guess who both times was the one to face him? Why, yours truly of course. This makes three times I have escaped him now. First time when I was one, second when I was eleven, third when I was twelve. Somehow I doubt he will be more successful next time, if there is a next time. And with all those supposedly innocent Death Eaters, what was their excuse, oh right, imperius curse, who are now questioned under veritaserum and will tell the whole truth, out of the way I don't think he would be able to gain control over Britain. And believe me they will be punished accordingly for their crimes. No amount of gold will let them get off again.

"One thing I always wanted to know is why the hell you blood purists are even following him if you despise halfbloods so much. He is a halfblood and he doesn't even have a muggleborn father, he has a muggle father, so tell me about hypocrisy. Now leave I want to read my book." Harry said never even giving Malfoy the satisfaction of jumping onto his insults.

Malfoy now had lost his cool and pointed his wand at Harry. He fired a curse but was blasted back immediately and hit his goons and then the wall hard.

"Stupid inbred idiot. If he had been taught properly he would have known that heir rings protect those who wear them." Harry mumbled.

"Heir rings?" Hermione asked interested.

"Every old family has a head of house and an heir apparent. As there were times when enemy families tried to weaken each other by killing the members of the other family and heirs especially, the families had to think of ways to protect their heirs. Most families had rings crafted, some even by the goblins, which they enchanted giving the heir who wore the ring a special protection in areas the family valued most or feared their opponents using against the heir." Neville explained.

"Oh, so your ring gives you protection against curses Harry?" Hermione wanted to know.

"One does, yes. The others have different abilities. The Black ring for example protects my mind from intrusion and I haven't really figured out what the Ravenclaw ring does yet. Well, I have time to find out later." Harry said.

"But, wouldn't enemy families try and take the ring from the heir when they capture him?" Ginny asked.

"No, it isn't possible to separate the heir from the ring except the heir does it voluntary. It's a safety measure all heir rings have. And severing the hand is also impossible, that was a common method in the early stages of families using the rings. Over time they learned how to best protect their heirs. And the real danger wasn't when the heir was at home but studying at Hogwarts or another magical school because the family couldn't protect them then." Neville told them.

"Is that part of what you learn as heirs?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, it is. One of the first things I ever had to learn when my family began training me actually. Today most people know not to mess with the heirs because it is pointless, but some seem to have forgotten what being an heir truly means. Well, probably Malfoy will remember now." Neville concluded, getting laughs from Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

* * *

Sirius anxiously waited at platform 9 ¾ waiting for Harry. He was getting impatient; he just wanted to see his son again. Due to the old coot getting cranky Harry had spent the last two weekends at Hogwarts instead of coming home to learn. Many people were staring at him, he didn't expect anything else. After all, his face had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet for weeks. His spectacular trial had been the main topic everybody was talking about for weeks.

Rita, knowing that her job depended on reporting the full truth, had written some scathing articles describing the trials. Neither Fudge nor Dumbledore nor Crouch had come out in a good light. In a side article she described the real circumstances surrounding Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor's conflict. It had been taken in with utmost surprise by the wizards and witches in Britain. After all, who would have thought that the revered founders could have behaved like that?

Finally the Hogwarts Express came into view. A bright smile adorned Sirius' face. Very soon he would see his son. And he had planned a wonderful Christmas holiday. He had gone through the Black properties and had found a nice villa at the Mediterranean Sea coast. They would spend two of the three weeks there. The last week they would spend at Grimmauld Place, which was completely modernized now. Kreacher and Dobby had finally finished the last changes to the old house a week ago. None of his family would have recognized the old place now.

The train stopped at the platform and the doors opened. Very soon the first students milled out of the train, looking for their families. It took five minutes until Harry finally exited the train. Probably he had waited until most of the other students had left the train. It would make it easier for him to exit without being questioned the whole time. Harry had written him that while he tried to be polite and patient, with time the constant questions were annoying him. He was glad to get away from that for a few weeks.

Harry spotted him and walked over with a bright smile. He soon reached him and Sirius didn't wait to pull him into his arms. Harry returned the hug.

"Hi, Pa, I missed you." Harry said happily.

"Hi, Harry, I missed you too. Let me have a look at you." Sirius said, holding Harry at arm's length.

"Well, I have to say, you are looking good. Soon the girls will fight over you." He announced grinning.

"PA!" Harry indignantly yelled, blushing madly.

Sirius laughed. He liked riling Harry up in good fun. But what he said was true. Harry was a handsome boy and he would likely grow into a man, women would try to win for them. With the blood adoption Harry had gained some of the Black elegance. It was a family trait. While James' had possessed a boyish-rogue charm, he (Sirius) had always had a swift elegance and grace. It also showed in his cousins Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix. All three were beautiful, elegant women. Well Bella had been before she was put into Azkaban. That place simply deprived anybody of good looks over time.

Harry went over to introduce Sirius to Ginny and Neville as he hadn't properly met the two yet. The Weasleys were greeting their children and Neville stood with his grandmother next to them.

"Pa, I want to introduce you to my friends. You already know Hermione and Ron; these are Ginny Weasley, Fred and George Weasley (they had decided it would be best if they didn't tell the Weasleys that he already knew the twins well) and Neville Longbottom. Well, you have met the Weasleys already but I thought proper introductions when you are not disguised would be appropriate." Harry said grinning.

Sirius just laughed nodding.

"Everybody, this is my adoptive father Sirius Black." Harry said to the Weasleys and Longbottoms.

"It's nice to finally meet you without my disguise. I wished it wouldn't have been necessary to do so, but it was the only way to have a chance of proving my innocence" Sirius said smiling.

"It's no problem, Lord Black. It was a disgrace for our government to imprison you without a trial for twelve years. And I am glad that you have been able to help young Harry to get away from his horrible muggle relatives. While I don't believe everything the Prophet prints and take it with a grain of salt, what I read painted a terrible picture of his home life." Augusta answered.

"Thank you for your support, Lady Longbottom. I appreciate your concern for Harry. I can guarantee you the Dursleys won't get away unpunished. I have already contracted a solicitor to deal with them." Sirius said with a grim look on his face. Then he turned to Neville.

"It's nice to meet you, Neville. I knew your parents really well. They were good people. It's horrible what happened to them and I am sorry that members of my family have played such a role in it."

"Thank you, Lord Black." Neville said a bit uncomfortable.

"Just call me Sirius. I would feel weird if my son's friends called me by my title, it makes me feel old." He offered the boy, who nodded smiling.

"The same is true for you too." He said to the Weasleys.

Everybody smiled at the easy way Sirius treated people. He was not what many had expected him to be like. After all, he was perfectly capable to blend in with the pureblood high-society.

"So, Harry, are you ready for a nice long vacation?" Sirius asked smiling.

"You bet, will you finally tell me where we are going to?" He asked.

"When we are at home, Harry. I don't want the press finding out where we are. This is a family vacation that means only the two of us. But believe me if I say you will like the place I chose." He answered.

While Harry hated having to wait longer to find out he could understand the need for secrecy.

"All right." He said, then turning to his friends.

"Have a nice holiday everyone. I will write you when I am back or floo call. We could meet after New Year and exchange how our holidays have been so far." Harry suggested.

"Sure thing, mate." Ron agreed.

Neville looked at his grandmother and she nodded smiling a little bit. It was nice seeing her grandson having good friends like these.

"I will wait for your call. I am looking forward to meeting you." Neville said.

"Of course, Harry. You will have to tell me about the place when you are back." Hermione said.

"What Ron said." The twins answered, while Ginny nodded giggling at the antics of her brothers.

With that Harry followed Sirius to the apparition point. They would apparate to Grimmauld Place to keep their location a secret. Kreacher and Dobby had already taken Harry's luggage home. While he would normally have left his things at Hogwarts he didn't want Dumbledore having access to his trunk while he was away. So Kreacher and Dobby would go through his wardrobe and supplies and sort what needed to be replaced and get it for him.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter. Cookies for those that can guess where I have planned to send Harry and Sirius on vacation. Please review.**

**By the way, I will go over the first chapters and correct some mistakes I found. So don't wonder if the story is more active the next few days, this is the only update for this week.**


	29. Holidays

**Hi, here is the next chapter, as far as I could see in the reviews most guessed wrong concerning the place I would send Harry and Sirius on vacation to. Well, here comes the revelation. Thanks for all of your reviews, by now there are over 1.200 for the story which is really great.**

**The usual disclaimers hold true.**

**Happy reading.**

* * *

**Holidays**

Harry was looking around amazed. He had never imagined that the place they would spend their holidays at would be this splendid. He was standing at the patio of a Mediterranean villa which looked over a little private bay. White marble stairs led down to the white sandy beach. All around him the whole spectrum of south European flora was entrancing the spectator. While back in England they had sub-freezing temperatures, here they had a warm sun smiling down on them, making the proper attire shorts and t-shirt or swimming attire.

Harry couldn't help smiling all the time. This was what he had dreamt of, traveling somewhere, relaxing in the sun and seeing something of the world. Having been forced to stay in the most boring neighbourhood possible for all his childhood, he had wanted to see other parts of the world desperately.

Sirius smiled seeing the wonder on his son's face. This vacation was something they both needed. Getting away from the greyness of England into the colourfulness of Greece. They were staying near a famous tourist resort at the Greece side of Cyprus under some of the strongest muggle repelling charms the Black family had ever built. This way the small bay was theirs alone. But Sirius had the utmost intention of visiting the tourist village during the days.

Being a fully qualified wizard Sirius could apparate everywhere he wanted to be. That meant they could just pop over to the continent and do a little sightseeing there when they felt like it. Greece had a famous magical history. All those ancient gods which the old Greeks had worshipped had been powerful wizards and witches. Aphrodite had been a potions mistress specialized in love potions. The so called messenger of love, her son Amor had just delivered the potions to the recipients. And as some muggles were just too stupid to properly dose their love interest he had taken to covering little darts with the potion and shot it at the intended targets. For an appropriate price of course.

Apollo had been the most accomplished healer of his time. And he had been a great enchanter. His devices for divination had even enabled muggles to see some of the most obvious signs wizards could interpret.

There were many others. From the wizarding point of view it had been hilarious what the muggles were ready to believe, but then again they hadn't been able to understand magic and the technology they had today was nowhere even thinkable for them. He would take Harry to see the Acropolis, the temple of Zeus and if he wanted to see more, the hidden manor at Mount Olympus. Sirius had been there once before when he had been twelve and his parents had wanted to impress into him the superiority of wizards throughout history.

That had been the only vacation with his parents during his time at Hogwarts he had at least enjoyed a bit. Learning about wizarding history was much better than being drilled on etiquette, blood superiority and how to properly curse muggles and muggleborns.

* * *

Having got settled in at their villa, Sirius took Harry flying over the ocean, hiding his son and himself with a disillusionment charm. Harry was amazed how deep blue the sea was. They were a few miles out on the open sea and he was seeing shoals of different types of fish, like tunas, sardines and giltheads. He also saw a small whale for the first time in his life.

Racing each other back to the villa on their firebolts, they arrived laughing and Sirius told Harry to change into some light but elegant clothes. Harry raised his eyebrow but was only answered with a sly grin by his father. Shrugging Harry went to his room and took out a light blue, short sleeved silk button up shirt with white shorts. He slipped his bare feet into sandals and then went down into the entrance hall of the villa.

He found his father waiting there, clothed in a similar outfit; just that his shorts were dark blue and he had a silver button up short sleeved shirt on.

"Ready to go exploring the local tourist village a bit?" Sirius asked smiling.

Harry nodded excitedly. Sirius led Harry to a garage where a Porsche 910 Cabriolet waited for them.

"You can drive a car?" Harry asked surprised.

He knew a lot of wizards and witches couldn't drive. The purebloods thought it beneath them to take muggle transportation.

"Of course I do. I took my test for cars and motorbikes at the same time, shortly after graduation from Hogwarts. First it was just to annoy my parents but then I got hooked on fast vehicles. This Porsche has a lot of power in its machine and it is a great feeling driving in it. What are you waiting for? Hop in." Sirius was grinning madly.

Harry did what he was told and soon they sped over the roads of Cyprus heading to the nearest tourist village. Harry looked all around him while Sirius concentrated on the road. The scenery was beautiful.

Finally they reached their destination and Sirius parked the car in the parking area of a five star hotel, giving the key to the employee watching the area. Seeing the appearance of the two, he just nodded and smiled, noting their name and time of arrival for later payment.

"All right, Harry, now it's time for a lesson in blending in with the masses. There are some little useful spells that help if you are on vacation and need to ask locals about something or do some things. The translation spell will allow you to understand and speak the language you want for a limited amount of time. Normally the spell holds for two hours before you have to recast it. It also takes constant powering with your magic so most wizards and witches don't bother learning it. But I know you won't have problems holding the spell. Normally you would only have to think about it once you are allowed to do magic outside of school.

"But as I am with you nobody can tell if it was me casting the spell or you, so I will teach it to you. You have to always remember that the trace isn't invincible and can easily be cheated. It only picks up magic that is done around you. The only exception from the law is using spells in self-defence. Then the Ministry won't punish you. So if you want to do magic outside school, make sure an adult that allows you doing magic is present to take the blame, be under wards that prevent the Ministry from finding out or be in a magical place like Diagon Alley where it is impossible to tell who cast which spell."

"Understood, Pa. I will remember it. Can you show me the spell tonight when we are back, I would like to try it without having to worry about messing up and accidentally making the muggles suspicious." Harry said.

They were both talking with low voices to keep their conversation private.

"Sure thing, Harry. Well, let's look around a bit. Did you apply sun cream to your skin? Otherwise you might want to do so now before you catch a sun burn."

"Yes, I did. I am not stupid enough going into the sun with my fair skin without protection." Harry said.

"Very good. Now we will go and enjoy the pleasures a warm climate has on the clothing habits of beautiful females." Sirius said, making Harry blush heavily.

"Pervert." He replied.

"There is nothing wrong with looking, Harry. If a woman clothes in very little, she wants to be admired. The things you are forbidden to do are staring all the time or touching her inappropriately. I know this is a bit uncomfortable for a teenager your age, but you will learn that I am right on this." Sirius said grinning.

Harry just followed him. He was not convinced that Sirius was right. But he would give him the benefit of doubt.

* * *

Harry had enjoyed the trip to the village massively. They had explored the tourist parts and walked into the parts where the natives were living. It was great. The Greek were very friendly and Harry was surprised to find that prices for goods were a lot lower here than at home. Sirius explained to him, that if he ever visited a foreign country, he shouldn't keep to the public tourist areas, but look for areas where the locals shopped and ate. There he would get the best meals and deals ever.

He had tried several Mediterranean fruits and vegetables, some cheese made from goat milk called feta, which he really liked, olives, some fresh fish and Sirius had allowed him to test a glass of wine. He thought he would wait drinking wine for a while.

As they didn't have any swimming clothes with them, they decided to hold off on it until they were back at the villa. Now Harry and Sirius were standing at the beach of their private bay.

"Okay, time to hit the waves, don't you think?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, um, I have a little problem, Pa; I never learned how to swim." Harry admitted embarrassed.

Sirius, again, wanted to hex the Dursleys. They didn't even have the decency to let the boy learn swimming.

"Don't worry, I will teach you. For now we will stay in the shallower parts of the bay. To swim you only need to keep your body on the surface of the water. I will show you the basic technique called breast stroke."

Sirius went a few meters into the water and let himself fall into it. Then he began swimming around, showing Harry the technique.

"The most important thing about swimming is to not fear the water. Panic is the one thing that can be dangerous for you. Keep your calm and breathe regularly. For now keep your head over the water. If you want to dive, inhale and then hold your breath." He lectured.

Harry nodded and went over to copy his father's movements. The first time he accidentally swallowed water he began coughing and immediately stood up. Sirius laughed at that.

"Sorry, I probably should have warned you, sea water is salt water and tastes horrible. Try not to get it in your mouth and breathe through your nose." He said.

Harry glared at Sirius but tried again. It took some hours but when it was time for dinner, Harry had the basics of swimming down. He was sure, once the holidays were over, he would be able to swim without a problem.

* * *

Dumbledore sat in the Great Hall and watched over the few students that had remained for Christmas this year. Normally Harry Potter would have been here with them, happy to escape his horrible relatives and massively grateful that he was allowed to stay at school. Now the boy was completely out of his reach. Sirius Black had been exonerated and to add to the problem had blood adopted the boy. This meant Harry had now access to the Black family magic.

That was a problem as one of the main abilities that the Blacks taught all their children was Occlumency. He had used his abilities in Legilimency to find out information from Harry before, but now the boy wouldn't be open to his probes anymore. He knew officially it was illegal to probe the mind of a minor, but how would he be able to prevent students from making trouble if he wasn't forewarned? It was all for the Greater Good.

He needed to find a way to regain control over Harry, but that was easier said than done. Minerva, obviously, was on Harry's side. She had always been fond of Harry's parents, even if James had been a troublemaker like no other, and her protective streak had reached out to Harry. The more pressing problem was to find out if Harry knew about the blocks Albus had placed on him as a baby. It would have been a problem for his plans if the boy had been too strong.

Strong people tended to be too independent and think for themselves. They tended to rely on their own powers instead of taking his counsel. That couldn't be allowed with the prophesied saviour of the wizarding world. If he couldn't be the saviour again, he at least needed to influence the new one massively to follow his ideals. Well, the ideals he projected to the people, that was. He was the only one capable of ruling the country after all. He had defeated Gellert in 1945, which had been the starting point of his impressive career.

He, Albus, had understood what Gellert didn't want to see. You couldn't rule a country by fear. Sure, people would do what you wanted them to do for a while, but there would be someone to stop you at one point in time. Once the pressure got too strong, there would be opposition. And killing your opponents just didn't work. People would hate you and only one of them needed to be lucky to take you down.

No, you needed to make them believe you had their best interests at heart. After all, what you said and what you did, were two different sides. You didn't need to kill your opponents, even if Albus hadn't done anything to prevent the deaths of those who were dangerous to him. It was enough to put them into positions where they were no trouble anymore. Albus Dumbledore was in the opinion of the masses the slightly mad, but genius headmaster of Hogwarts who looked out for the interest of the common people. He was the man who did his best to lead children on their way into a successful future. He was the man who had opposed Voldemort from the start.

Of course he had, Tom had been a danger to his plans after all. He hadn't thought that Tom would become as strong as he did or that he would rival Gellert in his potential as a dark Lord. And he had underestimated his own decreasing strength. He was over one hundred years old and Tom was 50 at the height of his power, for a wizard that was about his prime. Contrary to muggles, wizards had a span of about fifty years normally between their thirtieth and eightieth years where they were their most powerful.

Of course with age came experience and wisdom, but in terms of raw power, things got a bit less fortunate. While he was able to match Tom's power by skill, he had been unable to defeat him like he had been able with Gellert. That was a misconception that he was annoyed of until today.

Harry was nowhere near the power Tom or Albus possessed. But if he was left alone, he would grow into being that strong. That was the reason he had placed the power blocks and blocked his special abilities. He still hadn't figured out how Harry possessed that many special abilities. One was rare enough, but Harry had four. Thankfully only the wandless magic seemed to have broken out of its block. The active part of parseltongue, the metamorph abilities and the animagus ability were still bound as far as he knew. It would be simply problematic if the boy developed the ability to use them properly.

* * *

Harry sat in the villa and listened to Sirius while he explained to him the complex process to become an animagus.

"As you know, Harry, you have the ability to become an animagus. It is similar to your metamorph ability, which you, as of now, only use to keep your old appearance."

"Yes, and I can't wait to drop the façade after the holidays. I will tell everybody who asks about it that I took off the glamour I used to keep the fact that you blood adopted me a secret. That is an explanation Dumbledore will believe. I don't see any way for him to find out that the blocks are all gone before the test results are announced. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Vector, Babbling, Hagrid and Moony are all keeping quiet about my marks.

"And Snape hates me so much that he would never tell anybody that I am doing well in his class. Astronomy and Herbology aren't subjects where good marks would matter to Dumbledore. I could even explain the marks in Herbology with hanging out with Neville more than before. The guy is a genius in the subject. And since McGonagall convinced his grandmother that he needed his own wand, his wanded subjects are coming along as well."

"That's very good. The longer we can keep Dumbledore in the dark, the better. With the upcoming vote of no confidence that Fudge will face soon, Amelia and Rufus are simply done with his incompetence and corruption and have mobilized support to bring Fudge down, Dumbledore will be pretty busy at the Wizengamot. Now back to the animagus transformation. It is an ability that has to be trained. Finding out your animal is the easy part."

Harry nodded. They had found out that he was a storm panther months ago when he had taken the potion to reveal his inner animal. But the actual training had been postponed until now as other things had been more important at the time.

"Now, the first thing is to really know the animal you will transform into. Know its natural habitat, know its lifestyle. Is your animal a lone wolf or is it part of a pack? When we were figuring out how to transform, we read as many books about our animals as we could. James even went camping in the woods for a week to watch stags to learn about their habits. Now your animal is a magical cat.

"Additionally it is a predator and uses stealth to hunt its prey. But if forced to fight, it can unleash powerful wind attacks on its enemies. I think your natural talent on a broom is due to your connection with the air. I have got you some books on storm panthers and I want you to read them thoroughly. Once you have done that, we will start with the transformation of single body parts like hands into paws. It will take some time, but I think you will have done it once the summer holidays start. After that you need to analyse the way the panther moves. Imagine how it looks in different positions.

"I have also contacted my cousin Andromeda as her daughter Nymphadora, don't call her that if you like your body like it is by the way, is a metamorphmagus too. She will be able to help you learn to control your abilities. At the moment Nym is attending the auror academy but she has one week off during the Easter holidays. She has agreed to help you with your ability then for two hours each day."

"That's great. I have only got the changing of my hair colour and length down so far." Harry admitted. "The only body change I can do is between my true form and my old form."

"I thought so. I think the hair changing ability is due to you having grown your hair overnight before when you lived with the Dursleys. And the change between those two forms can probably be blamed on you knowing the old form and the true form feels natural to you."

Harry nodded, his face falling at the mention of the Dursleys.

"How far are the solicitors with the evidence against the Dursleys?" Harry asked.

"They are doing a full audit on all Grunnings employees, including their home life. I have got a report about the status quo and so far a lot of things have come together. Their lies about you attending that school for criminal boys are pointed out with statements of the neighbours and the entry list of that school. Then we have the complete reports on Dudley from Smeltings. You wouldn't believe how much trouble that boy has already caused."

"Believe me, I do. Dudley causing trouble and being a bully is nothing new to me." Harry said solemnly.

"Well, obviously he is massively endangered of failing this year. Only bribes from Vernon managed to stop his son from being suspended from school so far. But with the payments from the Potter estate for your lounging stopped, he can't afford them anymore. That abuse of funds that were meant for your upbringing is also noted in the reports. While we can't blame Dumbledore for that, they as your guardians were entitled to a monthly stipend for your expenses; we can get the Dursleys as they never spent more than the absolute minimum on you."

Harry gritted his teeth. They had always told him he was such a burden for them and that he cost them too much. But now it was obvious that the money meant to buy him clothes, toys and food was used to pay for spoiling them and Dudley. Worse, they had him do their work around the house and had him wear Dudley's old clothes, which were several numbers too large for him. He really wanted to see them punished for their crimes.

"Next point is we have found out that Marge Dursley also got some money from her brother to support her bulldog breeding. She didn't know where it came from, but it was also money that came from the Potter estate. Her bulldogs don't sell that well, as they aren't family dogs and with her tendency to get rid of the so called weak ones; she is guilty of animal cruelty. With the statements of her using her dog Ripper to attack you, she will lose her license to breed them. We have statements from a Mr Fubster who managed to save most of those unfortunate puppies and found them good homes."

Harry grinned. If Marge knew that the Colonel saved the dogs she wanted drowned, what would she say?

"That is the current situation. I am sure once the Grunnings audit is done, Vernon will be fired and he will face several years in prison for his crimes. The investigations should be finished when the audit is done. The assumed date is end of February." Sirius informed his son.

"Okay. So my only homework for the holidays is finding out as much as I can about shadow panthers?" He asked smiling.

"Yes. That will be enough, after all, you are meant to enjoy your holidays. Any specific part of Greece you want to visit tomorrow?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, I want to visit Athens. There are so many interesting sights both muggle and wizard. And I always dreamed of sightseeing in foreign countries when I was little." Harry admitted.

"Then we will apparate there tomorrow after breakfast. I happen to know a bit about Athens and can show you the most important historical places as well as the best Greek restaurant I know in the country. The owner is a squib and tends to both kinds of customers."

"Sounds great." Harry answered with a big smile on his face.

* * *

Harry was awed seeing the fantastic buildings that were left from the ancient times. Sirius proved to be really knowledgeable about Greece, both muggle and magical and showed him many things. History was mixed with fun, sport activities and a visit to a wizarding adventure park. Harry was surprised that wizards had something like an adventure park, but Sirius simply informed him that Great Britain was a bit behind times in some things. The whole pureblood supremacy movement there had prevented for real progress by looking what the muggles did for fun. Harry also got to visit a JWT shop and was really impressed. He knew that he was the owner of the company, but until now he hadn't really understood just what wizards could achieve with magic. No wonder after growing up in the muggle world.

There were many things that made housework easier than normal spells did. You didn't need to observe the household utensils working the utensils were enchanted to move on their own once activated. There were advertisements for a new product that would be available next year for the Quidditch World Cup, something similar to a muggle TV. Then there were other things for entertainment, like music players working with crystals to store music, some games, though not that many, toys for children and other things.

Sirius told Harry that he was working with JWT to get a store opened in Great Britain, but it was slow going with the purebloods in power. He hoped that his clearing of all charges and current popularity would help with getting the licence to open the shop. He had handed the petition in with the Ministry.

Harry also was taken to a muggle zoo which was totally different than the one he had seen in England before his first year at Hogwarts. The animals were mostly those that lived here in Greece. Of course there were others too. The zoo kept different kinds of animals together that lived in the same area in nature as well. Of course animals like lions or wolves were separated from others to not eat them. Harry had a lot of fun and made a lot of pictures. He wanted to show them to his friends when he returned home.

Harry and Sirius went swimming nearly every day and Harry got better and better at it. He now had no problems diving into the ocean and playing in the water with Sirius. They had great water battles and Harry got to build a fantastic sand castle. Something he had dreamed of doing as a child when he had heard Dudley talking about it after a holiday with his parents. Now he finally could do everything he wanted to do. Well, within certain limits. Sirius took his role as a father really serious. He knew that he and James had been right terrors when they had been Harry's age and he wanted to avoid that his son was that wild. Harry learned to water-ski and had a blast seeing how Sirius had a much harder time learning it. They had seen others do it and Harry had wanted to try his hand at the sport. It was difficult, but after three days he figured out how to keep standing on the two skis under his feet and enjoyed it massively.

Eating was always an experience. As Sirius didn't see the sense in cooking his own meals and Dobby and Kreacher had stayed in England, they went to different restaurants in the area. Sirius was rich enough to easily afford it. Too soon for Harry's liking they had to return to England, but he was happier than ever before. He had spent a great vacation and bonded much more with his father.

* * *

**That's it for this time. I hope you liked it. Till next time.**


	30. New Entertainment

**Hi, here is the new chapter that you have waited for. It will answer a few points some of you asked about. Thanks for all your reviews. Happy reading.**

* * *

**New Entertainment**

Harry reappeared at platform 9 ¾ by side-along apparition, holding Sirius' arm.

"Why again did we go by side-along apparition instead of walking here or driving your bike, Pa?" He asked, feeling slightly sick.

"Because I wanted to avoid the reporters that were waiting outside the barrier. I really don't understand why they can't understand that we want to keep our privacy. And they are just calling for an incident that will endanger the Statute of Secrecy. So I thought it better to go directly to the platform." Sirius explained.

"Next time let Kreacher or Dobby pop me over. Elf popping is a lot less upsetting to my stomach than apparating." Harry complained putting his hand onto his stomach while looking pale.

"I still don't understand that. I mean the methods are similar. But I think once you are allowed to apparate yourself it will become better. I remember hating side-along apparating and once I could do it by myself it became tolerable." Sirius pondered his hand at his chin.

"I hope you are right. By the way, did you have any success with stopping that ridiculous trial they are setting up for Buckbeak, Hagrid's hippogriff?" Harry wanted to know.

"No, not yet. I fear we will have to go through the trial. Even if Lucius has been arrested, the initial complaint about Buckbeak being dangerous still stands. The Ministry, more precisely Fudge, will try to look competent for once by investigating the matter. Of course in Fudge's eyes looking competent is taking action that will make him look good without knowing all the facts. I look forward to the day Amelia and Rufus get the Ministry cleaned up." Sirius answered.

"How far are they? You only talk about it in general terms whenever you mention it." Harry asked.

"That's because if anything gets out too soon, it will make their plans much more difficult to achieve. Just know that I don't think Fudge will stay in his position until the summer." Sirius explained.

"Okay, I can understand that. Will you help Hagrid with Buckbeak's trial? You know how he is; he is the nicest man possible, but he isn't suited for speaking in front of masses. And with the prejudices against half-giants like him still going strong, they might rule against Buckbeak just because he is Hagrid's." Harry asked hopefully.

"I will, I promise, Harry. I have watched your memories of the incident and with Lucius being in prison, there will be nobody skilled in rhetoric going against us." Sirius promised.

"Thanks, Pa. I don't want Hagrid to suffer because some arrogant bastards think they have to prove their superiority complexes on the back of an innocent creature." Harry stated.

"Language, Harry." Sirius admonished him.

Harry was tempted to stick his tongue out at his father, but remembered his manners. They were in a public place and had to behave accordingly. They had spoken in low keys to avoid being overheard and only now walked from the apparition point to the waiting train. The students were boarding the express and most of them were happily exchanging stories about their holidays.

Harry was already looking forward to the weekends. He had read all the books he had found about storm panthers, normal panthers, big cats in general and thanks to his photographic memory had committed everything to memory. After being quizzed about the panthers by his father, Sirius had agreed to begin teaching Harry how to become an animagus from the first weekend of term on.

He had already organized permission from McGonagall for Harry to go home on the weekends for training in family magic. Nobody at school could deny Harry the right to be instructed in his family's magic. Normally that kind of training took place during the holidays and before the child even started at Hogwarts but with Harry being placed in the care of the Dursleys he had much to catch up on. As McGonagall was the deputy headmistress as well as Harry's head of house, they didn't need to involve Dumbledore at all. He would only be told if he found out on his own.

"Hey, Harry!" They heard a girl calling out to them.

Harry turned and saw Melinda Stebbins approaching them.

"Hi, Melinda, how were your holidays?" Harry greeted the fifth year Ravenclaw.

"It was great. And I wanted to thank you. I took your advice regarding house elves to heart and started thanking and being kind to our two elves at home. You won't believe how much they are doing for me now. They think I am the best Mistress they could ever have hoped for. Minny, the female elf, always had fresh flowers placed in my room for me in the mornings and Toggy, the male elf and chef, cooks my favourite foods a lot more often than before. And all that only because I treated them nicely. I can't believe that so many people don't do it. It makes things so much better." She raved.

Harry smiled.

"I am glad you did it and got so much out of it, Melinda." He said.

He was really happy that his peers were starting to change their ways little by little. He knew that changes wouldn't happen quickly. It took time to change ingrained behaviours. But even little things mattered.

"How are the research groups getting along?" Harry asked.

Typically for Ravenclaw house, research teams had been started to investigate laws and traditions that had been written down centuries ago. He knew that the research teams also included some Hufflepuffs.

"Oh, it is going great. We have three groups going now. One is the law research; one is collecting data on all the magical races and one on traditions. We even have three Slytherins in the traditions group while two Gryffindors have joined the magical races group, your friend Hermione Granger is one of them. Each group has at least ten members. Most are Ravenclaws but the law group also has four Hufflepuffs. It is great. I would never have thought that we could all get along so well." She said smiling.

"That's great. Perhaps we can bring the houses into a more tolerable relation. I know there will always be competition between Gryffindor and Slytherin, it's just in the nature of the members, but it would be great if we only competed in academics and sports and otherwise got along." Harry replied.

Sirius kept quiet, only listening to his son and his friend. Obviously the changes Harry had started by just questioning the status quo were starting to take hold. It was encouraging. After all, these children were the leaders of tomorrow.

* * *

Harry put his trunk in the luggage rack and waited for his friends to arrive. His father had already said goodbye as he had an errant to run before he met with some of his acquaintances. Harry sat back in his seat and closed his eyes, remembering the deep blue of the Mediterranean Sea at Cyprus. He had loved his first ever vacation and was looking forward to the summer holidays. His father had promised to travel to another interesting country with him for three weeks. He was also looking forward to showing Hermione, Neville and Ron the pictures of Greece.

When they had met shortly after he and Sirius had come home after New Year, they hadn't been developed yet. So he had them with him in his trunk to show them at the ride to Hogwarts.

The first one to enter the compartment was Neville.

"Hi, Harry." He greeted.

"Hi, Nev. Everything alright?"

"Yes, you won't believe how proud Gran has been about my prowess at school. And we have been to St. Mungo's to check if there were blocks on my magic as Sirius recommended and they found one on my magic and one on my mind. You can't imagine how much easier it is now to remember things. And spells come easier to me too. The healer gave me permission to practice first and second year spells at home to get used to how much more power I have now.

"I really want to kick the ones who placed those blocks on me. I have been thought to be a squib for most of my childhood because of the block on my magic and had problems at school because my mind wasn't working properly. The healer said that the two blocks were placed by different persons. He could only identify one though; the one who placed the mind block. It seems our esteemed former DADA teacher Lockhart was working for the Ministry once when we were little. In the aftermath of the attack on my parent's home, he must have tried to use a calming spell on me, which resulted in the mind block." Neville growled.

Harry just shook his head irritated. It fit that the incompetent fool had bumbled up another spell. And with his only talent being memory charms, that had been the influence on Neville he had managed to achieve.

"I am sorry for the things you had to go through, but I am really happy that you can now start being yourself. I know how great it feels to not be hindered anymore." Harry admitted.

Neville raised his eyebrow. Harry hadn't told him yet about the blocks on his (Harry's) magic that had been placed by Dumbledore.

"So that is the reason for your changes this year? You have been handicapped as well?" He asked.

"Yes. Sorry, I forgot I hadn't told you yet. I am keeping it secret for now to not get the one who did it suspicious. He could try to do something else to me if he finds out. It will come out at the end of the year at the latest, but any time I can manage to get to evolve is precious for me." Harry explained.

"I understand. I presume Ron and Hermione are the only ones then that know so far?" Neville assumed.

"The twins know too. They found out earlier than Ron and Hermione to be honest. They cornered me about being adopted. They have a tool that shows them where everybody is at the castle and their true names. So me being shown as Harry Potter-Black made them curious." Harry explained.

"I would think so. That fits their personalities. I just wonder how they can keep their calm for their upcoming OWLs like they are." Neville wondered.

"They just have their priorities sorted. But Pa managed to talk them into expanding their efforts. Normally they would have concentrated on the subjects they need for their goal. They want to open a joke shop after school and put Zonko's out of business. They had planned on keeping only Charms, Transfiguration and Defence, they can learn enough about Potions on their own without Snape being the mean git he is all the time." Harry stated.

"I second that statement." Neville piped up throwing his arm in the air, making him and Harry laugh.

The door opened and Hermione and Ron entered their compartment.

"Hi Harry, hi Neville." Hermione said.

"Hi Hermione, hi Ron." Both answered.

"Hey, Ron, how was the tour at Juneur's that your dad took you and the others on?" Harry asked interested.

"It was great. We were shown all the products Juneur has on the market at the moment and got a presentation about the founding of the company. The reasons why Estelle Juneur decided to combine magic and muggle technology. And how she managed to convince the wizards and witches that her products were good for them. They have some kind of Hall of Glory there where all the best-selling products in the history of the company were presented to visitors.

"Dad's office was also pretty interesting. He demonstrated the things he is working on at the moment. As he's inexperienced at his new job, he got three customary muggle items and got the job to combine them with magic so that wizards could use them for their benefit. He had a toaster, a couple of board games and a CD player, something muggles use to play music. It is a lot smaller than the record players I have seen in the wizarding world." Ron told them.

"Yes, I think I saw one at your house last year, right?" Harry asked. "The big and unwieldy one in your living room."

"Yes, until now I thought that was the top of line of inventions that were made in regards to playing music at home. I mean, while our record player is quite old, the one we have has been a present to my grandparents and was high quality, it's still working perfectly and while there may be some fancier looking ones today, the way it is working is still the same." Ron said.

"So your father is happy at his new job?" Neville asked.

"Very happy. He says it has been the best decision he has ever made to start working at JWT. I think Fred and George were very impressed with the things that JWT has come up with over the years and I wouldn't wonder if they tried to get internships over the summer holidays to learn more. From what I heard them talk about they think they could incorporate the muggle technology with prank items they have been planning to develop." Ron told them.

"Wouldn't they need good marks in their OWLs to get considered for internships?" Hermione asked. "I mean, I heard some of the Ravenclaws I work together with in the research group talking about planning to do internships in renown companies and the requirements in the selection process. After all a lot of students would like to do them."

"I don't think that will be a problem for Fred and George. Those two are really smart; they just didn't see the need to excel in their studies yet. With that goal in mind, I think they will surprise everybody." Harry told them grinning.

"You know something, don't you, Harry?" Hermione asked turning towards him.

"Yep. Pa talked to the twins when we visited you at the Burrow, Ron. He made them see that they could do much better if they had more options. It helps that he has been a prankster at school himself and still excelled in his OWLs. None of the pranks he and his friends thought up would have been possible without intense knowledge of magic. But I will give them that the marauders had split up their workload the smart way."

"How did they do that?" Neville wanted to know.

"They decided that it would be a waste of time if they all sat in the same subjects when they had the choice in their electives. So they decided they would each take two subjects but cover all the offered subjects between them. Remus Lupin took Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies, Pa took Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes, Dad took Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and Pettigrew took Divination and Muggle Studies. So they all knew what the subjects were about without overworking." Harry explained.

"That's smart. They also had always one of the others with them, except for Pettigrew who was the only one taking Divination." Ron stated.

"Yes, and they had my mom with them in Runes and Arithmancy too. Before sixth year Lupin was the only one of the marauders my mom could stand. Pa told me she thought the others were too immature." Harry added.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Ron seemed to remember something.

"Hey, do you want to test one of the games Dad improved? He gave it to me to test it with my friends. The ride will take some hours and it sounds really interesting." Ron suggested.

"Sure. Which game did he give you?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's called Cluedo." Ron said.

"Oh I love Cluedo!" Hermione squealed.

Ron looked surprised; then he remembered that it was originally a muggle game.

"Great, then you can help me explain it, Hermione. Well, this version is called the Hogwarts Cluedo. The main intent is to find out which one of the teachers has murdered Mrs Norris." This caused Harry and Neville to snort at the thought. "You have to find out which weapon was used and where the murder has been committed. The board has all the important places of Hogwarts on it, like the Great Hall, the Library, Professor Dumbledore's office and so on."

So they placed the board on the floor and Hermione and Ron took turns explaining the game to Harry and Neville who had never played it before.

They had a lot of fun; the rooms one was visiting were being projected over the board, giving you the impression that your pawn in the game was really there, looking for clues. Some of their friends came visiting and wondered what game they were playing as they had never seen it before.

Ron explained how his dad had asked him to test the game with his friends to see if there would be a market for it in Great Britain. Soon many of the other students asked Ron if there was a way that his dad could send more games to Hogwarts as there were precious few games in the wizarding world and with time it got boring to only play the same ones. Ron promised to send his dad an owl.

"Wow, that's great. I never expected that so many would be interested in the game." Ron said writing down the last student's name on a piece of parchment Hermione had given him.

"Well, it is new and it is fun to play." Neville said.

They were still playing and he thought he had solved the case.

"Yes, and all the students and even the adults can identify with the location and the suspects. I think it will be a great success if JWT starts putting it on the market." Harry added, moving his pawn to the Potions Classroom.

"Okay, my guess is it was Snape in the Great Hall, using the exploding mice." He said and took the box where the three cards were kept that had the solution on them.

Harry looked at them and cursed. He had been wrong about the location, the other two had been right. Now he was out of the game.

"Little error on my side." He admitted and handed the dice over to Neville next to him.

Neville threw the dice and moved his pawn into the Library.

"Okay, my turn to guess. And I am pretty sure I have solved this case. It was Snape with exploding mice in the Headmaster's Office." He announced and Harry just gave him the box beaten. He knew it was correct as he had just seen the cards.

"Congratulations, Neville." Hermione said as Neville showed them the three cards.

"Yep, well done, Nev. How did you know the location?" Harry asked.

"Easy, I had two of the cards for locations and got another crossed out by looking at Hermione's when I asked for the Library. And from the way the game went I could eliminate some weapons early on. This game is great. Can we play again?" He asked excitedly, really happy how much easier thinking now came to him.

"We want to play as well." They heard from the door, where Seamus and Dean stood.

"Sure, six is the maximum number of players for one game." Ron said, happy to be able to show off a game his father had modified to his friends.

"Where did you get the game, Ron?" Dean asked.

"My dad is working for JWT now and wanted me to test it with my friends at school. Ginny, Fred and George also have two other games to test them. Dad's bosses thought it would be best to test the games at a school like Hogwarts as the main clientele were children and teenagers." Ron answered.

"Cool, do you think they will be available to the public soon?" Seamus asked knowing what JWT was.

"Well, Dad asked us to have them tested during the next month and report to him how well they were received at school. If the respond is positive, I am quite sure they will be available before the summer holidays start." Ron answered.

"Which games do your siblings have?" Dean asked, knowing most muggle games.

"Ginny has a modified version of a very popular game called Monopoly and the twins have The Game of Life." Ron said.

"And they are going to share them in the common room?" Seamus wanted to know while Harry was handing out the cards after mixing them new and putting the three for the case into the box.

"That's the plan. If the response is positive, we may invite friends from other houses as well."

Dean and Seamus looked happy with that and the six third-year Gryffindors were enjoying their game.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man at the moment. The students had returned from the holidays but the main topic between the younger years had been the three games the Weasley siblings had brought with them. From what he had found out, Arthur Weasley had modified some muggle board games for his new job and asked his children to test if they would be accepted by the students. He hated new things that were introduced into the wizarding world.

He wanted to keep things as they were. Only he was allowed to introduce new developments, even if he sometimes needed to 'convince' those who also had a hand in the discovery to keep quiet about them. His work about the 'Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood' had originally been a partnership with Ivor Dillensby. In the end he had taken the final four uses he had discovered and taken the eight Dillensby had found and put together his work. Of course nobody would believe Dillensby. Why would the great Albus Dumbledore steal somebody else's work after all? To be absolutely sure though, he had placed Dillensby under a compulsion charm to keep quiet.

Now one of the well-known members of British wizarding society had taken a position from which he could probably introduce new things, those damned combinations of muggle technology and magic. He didn't know how those games worked, but they were originally muggle games. It was against the wizarding way to play muggle games. In the years he had been headmaster, he had secretly discouraged muggle inventions in the castle. The purebloods sneered at things that were obviously non magical and not part of traditions. But with games that were magical, even if their origin was muggle, things were different.

And as long as they weren't dangerous to the students, he couldn't forbid them. While he was sure Slytherin house wouldn't accept them, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were sure to like them. Ravenclaw would be curious to find out more about them and then he would have to deal with three houses having them in their common rooms. And if, Merlin forbid, Arthur would come up with games that were educational as well as entertaining, Ravenclaw would be sold.

He watched his fellow teachers and frowned as he saw Septima and Pomona discuss the idea of magical muggle games positively. Minerva got involved in the conversation and told the other two that she would investigate the games and report to them what they were about later. Albus would also ask her to tell him what she had found out. This new development was worrying.

* * *

Harry had a nice evening in the common room. He joined Ginny, Katie, Angelina, Alicia and Neville in a game of Monopoly after dinner. Oliver, Ron, Lee, Jennifer Gladen from sixth year, Collin Creevey and Hermione were playing Cluedo and Fred and George had Dean, Parvati and Lavender around them for The Game of Life. The other Gryffindors were assembled watching them play the games. Many of the pureblood students asked about the new games and from where they had got them. Many of them wanted to get their own one after seeing how much fun the others had playing them.

Harry inertly grinned. He just knew the new games would be great sellers. And as Britain was woefully behind the other countries in things to be used for entertainment, he would earn a lot of money as the owner of JWT. Not that he would tell anybody soon. He wanted to be as normal as he could be. To just play board games in the evening after a day of lessons was a great thing.

When they were half an hour into their games, they got a surprise in the form of Professor McGonagall visiting and inquiring about the games, which she had heard about during dinner. The Weasleys told her how they had got the games, what they entailed and how many players could play in one session. Minerva was very impressed with the idea of making muggle board games attractive for wizarding children and saw nothing wrong with the games. She thanked the Weasleys for the information and wished them to have fun playing and not to stay up too long.

Harry had a lot of fun getting Neville broke at Monopoly. Somehow his friend had the worst luck and nearly always visited Harry's Stonehenge and had to pay the rent for staying there. The wizarding version of Monopoly had been set up to represent famous sights of wizarding history. Like in normal Monopoly, you had to collect three places of one category to be able to build buildings. In their case they started with a cottage, which was for normal places. The special places like Stonehenge were different as they multiplied the player's thrown number on the dice with 30, which was the price to pay.

The categories were countries and each country had three sights. Mr Weasley thought the best way to inspire interest in the game for witches and wizards would be if it was done as a kind of world tour. For England for example the places were Diagon Alley, Godric's Hollow and Loch Ness. The cottages built in those places could be rented by tourists. For France there was the French Rue Magique, Notre Dame and Beauxbatons. The other countries were Greece, Kenya, Atlantis, The United States, Australia and Japan.

There were magic specific events that earned or lost them galleons in their accounts. Mr Weasley had thought it more realistic if they kept their money in their Gringotts accounts, so he had added a function that kept an account for each player. The account manager was an animated goblin that informed the player about their options like the real goblins did for wealthy clients.

Special places like the train stations for the muggle Monopoly were exchanged for the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungo's, Hogwarts and Gringotts. The six were having a blast with the girls trying to get Harry and sometimes Neville to abate their debts for a kiss. Needless to say Harry and Neville were blushing madly to the snickers of their spectators if it happened. Well, mostly the three older girls were trying to get away with it; Ginny was too shy for that kind of moves yet.

Percy was still a bit sceptical, but had agreed to watch the new developments before he judged. He still wanted to make career at the Ministry but he also had realized that many of the points Harry had brought up were true. Perhaps he could be successful there while keeping an open mind for problems. If he managed to solve those problems and be recognized for good work, he could go far. After all, Harry Potter was heir of six influential houses and wanted to change the wizarding world for the better. He would be very influential as soon as he took his place in the Wizengamot after turning twenty, the minimum age for taking a family seat.

Percy was sure Sirius Black would be Harry's proxy until that date. The Lord of House Black, who was also the well-respected Comte de Jarjais, had managed to build a power-base with light oriented and neutral families. And he hadn't restricted himself to politicians, he had also approached businessmen. Additionally Harry had the Boldon Empire behind him as the sole heir. Important things he had to keep in mind.

He had until the end of the year, one term to spot the main problems in the educational system, as that was what he knew really well, and point out suggestions for improvement. He had always liked to learn and considering a career in education at the Ministry could work in his favour. After all, the head of the Department of Magical Education, Griselda Marchbanks who also presided the OWL and NEWT exams at Hogwarts, was getting to an age where many decided to enjoy their retirement. And if he found the Ministry wasn't that well-suited for him, he could go into teaching. He had the necessary marks in case an opportunity presented itself.

* * *

**And done. I hope you liked it. Till next time.**


	31. A Popped Bubble

**Hi, I'm back with this story. Hope you like my new chapter. Thanks for the reviews you left. Happy reading.**

* * *

**A Popped Bubble**

Amelia Bones was working her way through the amounts of paperwork that were the documentation of the interrogations of the so called imperiused Death Eaters. She wanted to throw up, reading about some of the crimes they had committed. Not one of them had ever been forced to do the bidding of Voldemort. Not one had been under the imperius curse. She cursed Fudge and Bagnold for being corrupt morons. With letting the Death Eaters go without questioning them under veritaserum, they had enabled them to gather new money and live comfortable lives in most cases.

The people that were arrested now and awaiting trial next Tuesday for the first five, it would be a stressing and long day at court, mostly belonged to old pureblood lines that had amassed wealth over centuries. And you could say what you wanted about Lucius Malfoy, the man was great at conducting business. Now the interesting question was what would they do after the Death Eaters were convicted? The Pettigrew trial had set precedence for punishment. It was a good and fair solution.

They didn't risk that Voldemort could get his most loyal and powerful supporters back if he returned, which Harry and Sirius were quite sure of. Harry had seen Voldemort's spirit in his first year and that was enough for Amelia to be on guard. Of course Fudge would never agree with any actions taken to prepare the Ministry for a threat like that, he would stubbornly cling to the belief that Voldemort was dead.

But the group that had the goal to get Fudge out of office and someone competent into office was already preparing to oust him. They needed to make sure Fudge couldn't get out of his self-made mess. Really, the standards at the Ministry had fallen so far, any halfway competent dark Lord would be able to easily take over at the moment. It was a fact that scared her. She had fought against Voldemort's Death Eaters, she had lost family to those monsters and her niece was an orphan because of them.

She had done her best to prevent a war like the one back in the seventies from ever happening again. She had climbed to the top of the DMLE, but she knew that more should have been done. In the first years after Voldemort fell thanks to Harry Potter, they had been strong. Minister Bagnold had kept the funds high to catch the Death Eaters. Only to let those that had enough money go under the flimsy excuse of imperius curse. True, you couldn't detect the imperius; it was the reason the curse was such a terrible weapon in Voldemort's arsenal, but you couldn't lie under veritaserum.

Even Occlumency didn't work against the truth potion. Only if you had taken the antidote before you took the veritaserum you would be able to lie, but with the Death Eaters being in Ministry custody before their trials that wouldn't have been a problem. Sadly things had gone down after the Minister felt that they had got all the Death Eaters. Slowly Minister Bagnold had cut the funds for the DMLE and she had not got any new recruits for three years. The argument was that the force that existed was enough to guarantee order in the population.

Then more and more funds had been redirected and former aurors and hit-wizards were reassigned to new departments if they wanted to keep working for the Ministry. After all, why would they need such a force in peace times; that had been the argument Bagnold used to justify the cut in funds. While the regular magical law enforcers were not a problem and she could live with them being reduced in numbers, she didn't like the cuts with the aurors at all.

It had taken too long to answer the suddenly appearing threat of Voldemort in the past. You couldn't just give young graduates from Hogwarts a six week crash course and expect them to hold their own against trained dark wizards. It just didn't work. But Bagnold didn't listen to her complaints. Fudge was even worse. He had cut the already slim budget the DMLE got and gave the money to his toadies. The sad thing was that nobody was powerful enough to step in. Fudge had become Minister in 1990 because there simply was no one else who wanted the job.

She didn't have the ambition to be Minister, she liked her position. She felt she could do more good in law enforcement than in a mostly diplomatic position. If only that position didn't give Fudge the power over the funds. No, they needed somebody in the top position, who wouldn't hesitate to do a thorough clean up. As much as Rufus liked the idea of running for Minister, she knew he wouldn't be the best option. While he was a good head auror, and definitely would be better than Fudge, his methods weren't suited for the top position. He tended to talk a lot but didn't get done what he spoke of. No, he was better kept in the head auror position.

No, they needed somebody who had political sway, didn't take crap from anyone, had a family name to please the pureblood faction, but was open to the other parts of the magical society. He or she needed to be powerful to make clear that the new Minister would work from a position of strength and was willing to modernize the Ministry. She would bring up her thought at the next meeting. She needed the input of the others. She was not a Hufflepuff for nothing.

* * *

Dumbledore sat in his office waiting for Severus. He needed to discuss some things with his spy and it was better to speak in private than where the other teachers could listen. Things were not going his way and he needed to make sure that they didn't totally spiral out of his control. He needed to at least be able to influence Harry somewhat. And Severus could find out more during his lessons by using Legilimency. He got the magical signal that Severus had entered and was on the staircase.

"Come in, Severus." He called out.

He loved the connection he had with the castle. It made it look that he knew everything that was going on, even if he didn't. Some things, like Harry Potter's actions, were out of his sight, because the castle wouldn't spy on a founder's heir that had been made aware of his heir status. And Harry knew.

"Good evening, Headmaster. What did you want to talk about?" Snape asked.

"I wanted to ask you to find something out for me. I want you to subtly scan the thoughts of Harry Potter to find out what he is up to. His father has made it impossible for me to be alone with Harry; either Minerva or Sirius is to be with Harry in my presence. It is annoying, but I am sure it will pass with time. But I need to know what Harry is doing. As the portraits and ghosts won't report to me regarding heirs of the founders, you are my best chance to regain control over the boy. He needs to be carefully guided to be capable to fulfil his destiny once Voldemort returns." Dumbledore explained.

"It won't work, Headmaster." Snape said.

"Oh and why not?" He asked annoyed.

"The heir ring of house Black prevents mind attacks. And I am sure Black has Potter learning Occlumency already. I know this because I was friends with Regulus Black. He wore the ring during his time at Hogwarts. His parents had decided to give the ring to Regulus after Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor. The Blacks feared mind intrusion above everything else, therefore their heir ring protects the mind of the heir until he is capable of doing it himself." Snape answered.

Dumbledore frowned. He of course knew of the powers of heir rings. They were not to be underestimated. Normally there would only be shields against curses in most cases, but some families had other priorities. It would make sense for the Blacks to concentrate on mind magics as they trained their children in spells before they attended Hogwarts.

"That is really unfortunate. How strong are those protections?" He asked.

"From what Regulus said, I would need to use a full-powered _Legilimens _to penetrate the shield and that would alert Potter immediately. There is no way to do it subtly. And any full-powered Legilimens on a minor is a straight ticket to Azkaban." Snape informed him.

"Do you have any idea how we could obtain the information?"

"I could try Weasley or Granger. Perhaps he told them." Snape suggested.

"No, that would be a problem. Weasley is a pureblood, even if Arthur is not working for the Ministry anymore, he has many friends there, and Amelia Bones is one of them. At the moment they all concentrate their ire on Cornelius, but if she found out you attacked Weasley with Legilimency, she would act fast and arrest you. And I would imagine that Granger would notice the attack as it produces a headache. This needs to happen without anybody finding out." Dumbledore said frowning.

"As if Weasley would notice an intrusion." Snape scoffed.

"Probably not, but the symptoms could be interpreted. I don't want to risk pushing Harry further away and attacks on his friends would do that. If I learned one thing about the boy, it is that he is always ready to protect his friends. As you know I intended to use that for my plan to finally bring down Voldemort." Dumbledore reminded Snape.

"The boy is not capable of defeating the Dark Lord and you know it." Snape sneered.

Albus kept his thoughts for him. Severus didn't know the whole prophecy, only the first half.

"Try to think of something that could work, Severus. We need to get more information." Dumbledore said.

"Of course, Headmaster." Snape answered and left the office.

* * *

Vernon and Petunia Dursley sat in their living room in the evening. Dinner had just been finished, Dudley was at Smeltings and they were enjoying their evening as a normal couple.

"Ah, this is life, Petunia. None of those abnormal things happening as the freak is away. Dudley is at school with his friends and learning the things a strapping lad like him needs for his future. We have a peaceful evening like any normal couple after my day of work." Vernon said, drinking his tea.

"Yes, dear. And nobody will ever disturb our peace again. We won't take the freak back for the summer. Nobody can expect us to keep up with him after what he did to your sister." Petunia agreed.

"Damn right. We just won't go to the station to take him back. No matter what the old coot says. I still don't know who he thinks he is to be allowed to interfere with people's lives like he did with ours. We didn't want anything to do with that unnaturalness. We have done what we could. It's not like the freak is a helpless baby anymore. Let them deal with it, we have had enough." He stated.

"Yes. One other thing, I am a bit concerned about Dudley's grades on his midterm result paper. Do you think we should get him help to do better at school? I mean perhaps if he got another teacher to explain the things he didn't understand; it would be easier for him. I am sure he is smart; he just doesn't get the right support in his classes. I have heard that children learn differently. Perhaps Dudley just needs another method of teaching." She suggested.

"Nonsense, Petunia. Dudley is at an age where teenagers question everything around them. And teachers are at the top of that list. He will pull through and at the end of term you will see that everything is alright. Even if he doesn't get top marks, the only marks that will be really important will be his O-Levels and then the A-Levels. And he has time until then. Let him be a boy for now." Vernon diminished Petunia's concerns.

"You are probably right. I just want my baby to be successful at school."

"As every good mother would. But as you didn't have a brother growing up, you don't have the insight of differences between boys and girls at the age Dudley is at the moment." Vernon comforted her.

"How is the audit at Grunnings coming along?" Petunia asked changing the topic.

"They expect results at the end of February. But I don't expect anything bad coming out for me. I have always done my best for the company and got a nice bit of money for the deals I made for them." Vernon boasted.

Petunia smiled. She loved how normal their lives were without the freak that was unfortunately her nephew.

* * *

At the same time the board of Grunnings met at the office of the CEO. As a special guest Comte de Jarjais, the guardian of the underage majority owner of the company was present.

"Thanks to everybody for coming to this meeting tonight." Stewart Grunnings the CEO greeted the assembled men and women.

"The thorough audit that had been done for the whole of our company is nearly complete. We will go over all the departments and all of our personnel. But first, I want to introduce Comte de Jarjais to all of you. He is the guardian of our majority owner, who will remain anonymous regarding that he is still a minor."

The others nodded. Everybody had a name tag sitting in front of their seat so that they could address everybody by name. Mr Grunnings continued.

"I am pleased to say that barring the last tenth of analysing data, we have finished with the audit and that most of our departments have done great work. We have found some minor discrepancies but they mostly come from accounting mistakes. We will hold mandatory seminars for all our employees that will take about a week each to prevent those mistakes in the future."

Overall nodding was the response. It was logical to rectify a spotted problem that way.

"Now we come to the overview we did on our employees. There are some that are problems. Not many, but we will address them all. Within our 467 employees we have spotted five that have a serious problem with alcohol. They will be given a period of six months to get control over their addiction, otherwise they will have to go. We can't risk that they make mistakes in the production or in making contracts for our company. The names will be handled confidentially. Two others are addicted to drugs, they get the same ultimatum."

Again, the others nodded.

"Now we have one special case. He not only is a problem for the company, he also is guilty of child abuse and neglect and embezzlement of funds given to him for the welfare of said child." Grunnings said with a strained voice.

Disbelieving whisper was the answer to the accusation.

Sirius grinned. So they had found out what Dursley did to Harry. He had expected it as the goblins were masters in digging up dirt. He would lean back and enjoy the show.

"Whom are we talking about, Mr Grunnings?" Joan Coppers asked?

"Vernon Dursley. He and his wife Petunia, living at Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, were given custody of their nephew, Harry Potter, in November of 1981, following the death of James and Lily Potter. From what we found out, Dursley put the reason for them having to take care of the boy down as the parents dying in an alcohol induced car crash, while the boy survived.

"Petunia Dursley as the boy's maternal aunt was the closest living relative, so the placement was nothing out of the norm, even if there was tension between the two sisters. After all, every decent citizen would take in their orphaned nephew, even if he didn't like the parents that much. With the Dursley having a son only two months older, it was seen as a good placement by the authorities. A mother of another child would definitely be suited to raise a second child the same age."

The group agreed. It made sense.

"Sadly the animosity that Petunia Dursley had for her sister transferred to the child. The boy was seen as nothing more than a burden and was treated horribly. We found out that the child was only given the way larger cast offs of his cousin and didn't receive the necessary medical check-ups every child is entitled to. We have the records of all the doctors and hospitals in the area of Surrey and no doctor had a file on Harry Potter. Of course they didn't want to break their oath of silence, but they could tell us if there was a patient called Harry Potter.

"The only records we were able to find were those of the school nurse at the local primary school in Little Whinging. They show that Harry was there a lot of times when a group of other kids beat him up, including his cousin Dudley Dursley. As the school had been warned that Harry Potter was a delinquent by his guardians, they never really investigated the matter further, no matter what recommendations the school nurse made. We have got statements from the bank that Mr and Mrs Dursley were paid a monthly stipend of 150 pounds for the needs of Harry until the age of five, when he was entered at primary school the amount was increased to 300 pounds.

"That amount was never used for the needs of the boy, but witnesses at Privet Drive told that the Dursleys' son Dudley was spoiled with many presents. We have reason to believe they used the money meant for the care of their nephew on their son. The only thing we can't accuse them of is direct physical abuse by them, only their son was beating the boy. But as a minor, he can't be held accountable. We have statements from Harry Potter, who attends the same private school as Comte de Jarjais' adopted son that he was living in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years of his life until he got his acceptance letter for the private school." Mr Grunnings stated angrily.

What followed were shouts of outrage. How could anybody treat a child like that?

"More, they are definitely guilty of verbal abuse, calling the boy 'Freak' or 'Boy' instead of his given name. He reports periods of starvation at their hands and punishments of imprisonment for prolonged time. The last one going over two weeks in his room, while he was getting his food through a cat flap his uncle installed at the door, which also had many locks on it. The boy was only let out for short bathroom visits two times a day. Thankfully friends from his school rescued the boy after finding the lack of communication during that summer suspicious."

Everybody was appalled.

"How old was the boy when that happened?" Jason Ranloff asked.

"Eleven. He had returned from school for the summer and we don't know what triggered the event. The neighbours reported that there were bars installed at the window of the boy's room. The Dursleys told them they were to keep burglars put and that the rest of the bars would be delivered later on. They explained the lack of said bars later on with the company going bankrupt." Grunnings answered.

"And nobody did anything for the boy?" Ranloff wanted to know.

"No, the neighbours were led to believe the same as the school. And sadly they believed the Dursleys as they portrayed the perfect normal family on the outside. Now, I don't want that man to be employed by us any longer. I have already organized that all the things our investigations brought to light will be handed over to Scotland Yard." Grunnings ended his report.

"What will happen to the boy?" Coppers asked.

"He will move in with me and my son." Sirius said. "They are friends at school and I have no problem being guardian of both of them. Harry's parents were friends of mine when we were younger, so I feel that I owe them as much."

Many had relieved looks on their faces.

"How much will firing Dursley hurt his department?" Oliver Malloy asked.

"None at all. While he made some good deals for us, he is not well liked by his co-workers. The only reason we kept him was that he did his work properly. But by now we have trained up a replacement. Christopher Lang will take over the open spot." Timothy McNorton stated.

"That's good to know. Now we will go over the discrepancies we found. We have one employee that had embezzled fund from us, which will lead to her being fired and put on trial." Grunnings continued.

* * *

**So, now the judgment of the Dursleys has started. Vernon will be fired and investigated by Scotland Yard. And the Ministry rebels will also soon make a decisicve move. Till next time.**


	32. A New Direction

**Okay, this weekend this story is up for an update I decided. I also have about half of the next chapter for 'Witches' Conspiracy' done. i think another week or so and I can update it too, perhaps two weeks. Have fun reading.**

* * *

**A New Direction**

Arthur Weasley was reading the letters from his children how the new games had been accepted at Hogwarts. To his great pleasure, they had been a massive success. Fred, George, Ron and Ginny had written that many of their friends and classmates loved the idea of new entertainment and wanted to know when the games would be available in the shops and where they could buy them. This looked extremely promising for his first project. In twenty minutes a meeting was timed for all members of his department to report on their current projects. It was very encouraging that his ideas had worked so well to transform the muggle games into games that wizarding children would love to play and most importantly play more than once.

Finally he took the last letter from Percy, who had written down some of his observations. He suggested that he should create another game too. While the younger years especially in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor loved the games, only Hogwarts Cluedo had been taken in well by Ravenclaw. Percy suggested creating a game that was both entertaining and educational. He had spoken with his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater what the Ravenclaws wanted from a game, and they liked increasing their knowledge and competing with others in that regard.

Arthur agreed that it would be a good idea. He would propose the idea in the meeting today and see if the others had some good ideas. Then his colleague Robert Tynn came into his office. Robert was a middle aged, black man and originally came from Kenya. But his parents had moved to Britain when he had been just a year old. He was Arthur's direct superior at Juneur.

"Hello, Arthur, ready for the meeting?" He asked.

"Hello, Robert. Yes, I am. I just read the last letter from my children, who have been testing the games I modified during the last month at Hogwarts." He answered.

"Oh, I am curious what you will present at the meeting then. You are lucky to have the perfect testers for that kind of project in your family." Robert said.

"Yes, I am. Even my third oldest son has accepted my choice to change jobs by now. He wrote me a letter with a new idea for a game that especially the Ravenclaws would like to have." Arthur said.

"Nice. Just so you know we have a guest today during the meeting. Sirius Black will be present. I think you know him?" Robert asked.

"Yes, I do. His adopted son Harry is the best friend of my youngest son Ron." Arthur told him. "How comes he is attending the meeting?"

"I think Fassimo said something about him helping with getting a shop in Diagon Alley to sell our products. As he is a pretty big number in the Wizengamot now, he can ease our acceptance in Britain. You know that we didn't really have a market there until recently. With the pureblood faction blocking any attempts to sell goods that were created by muggles originally, or at least in parts, we had a hard time to even get known. Many already forgot that it was JWT that developed the WWN. They tend to sprout nonsense about it being a pureblood wizard that invented it. Other European Countries were easier to access. We are leading in the market in Germany, France, Spain and Sweden, to just name the major ones."

"Okay, that makes sense. It would be great if Sirius managed to promote our products more." Arthur agreed.

* * *

Finally it was time to go to the meeting and both men walked there relaxed. They entered the room and Arthur saw Sirius and greeted him. Then they all took their seats. The Department head, Alanius Rokkomar opened the meeting.

"Okay, to get the official side over with, I hereby open the first complete meeting of the R&D Department of Juneur Wizarding Technologies. I want to first introduce you to our guest, Sirius Black, sometimes also known as Comte de Jarjais, who has agreed to support our attempt to finally successfully enter the British market. He was contacted by our new owner, who prefers to stay anonymous for now, to act as our marketing representative." Sirius nodded his head and smiled at the assembled people in the room.

"Let's now start with the report of the projects you have worked on the last two months. Jack, how far are you with the project for the Quidditch World Cup?" Alanius asked.

"We have completed the recording part and managed to get the quality of the pictures up to 95 %. We are still fine-tuning the reproduction quality to get to 100 % next month. With the World Cup starting in June, we will be ready to supply the Quidditch fans with recordings of the games the day after the game has been played. Jean and her team are finished with the devices to play the recorded games through a modified VCR.

"The storage part for the devices consists of special crystals, which our team can mass produce. We have already stocked 1.000.000 crystals in our warehouses. We can get the recordings from the games to the transfer machine within ten minutes after the game. The replication of the original recording to the crystals will be done in three hours. After that we can send the crystals through owl post to the clients that have subscribed the recordings for the game. The only thing they will need are the devices to play the recordings.

"Our books are filled with orders for the devices from all countries in Europe except Britain. But Mr Black thinks he can manage to promote our ideas pretty quickly and that we can start selling in two months, early enough to profit from the Quidditch World Cup boom in England." Jack concluded his report.

Arthur was impressed. He wouldn't have thought of a possibility to record Quidditch games in crystals that could be sent to people at home, so they could follow the World Cup despite not managing to get tickets. This promised to earn JWT a massive amount of money. After all, Quidditch was the most popular sport in the world and reading about a match was nothing compared to seeing it. More, if they continued the practice for the league matches after the World Cup was over, they would have a steady profit from this product.

"On that front, I have some good news. Thanks to the Ministry trying to get into my good books and not angering my son more than they already did, I got the permission to open the store in Diagon Alley this morning. You can send some craftsmen to renovate it to your liking tomorrow. My house elf Dobby will await them and show them the premises." Sirius informed them.

"That's very good news, Mr Black." Alanius said. "Next topic on my list is the games you had your children test at Hogwarts, Arthur. What are their responses?"

"They are very good. I had them test the games Cluedo, Monopoly and Game of Life which I had modified. From the reviews they got, there is a great market for the games within the students of Hogwarts. The favourite at the moment is Cluedo, as it is accepted within three of the four houses. There are problems with the acceptance of games of muggle origin within Slytherin house, but we estimated that and think it would mellow over time when all the other children have the games. The Game of Life is better liked with the older students, Monopoly with the younger ones.

"Within the school my children got over one hundred and fifty requests to inform them as soon as the games were available during the past month. I got the lists from the school. My son Percy also told me an idea to get more Ravenclaw students interested in our games. He suggested that we create a game that is both educational and entertaining. I think it wouldn't be just the Ravenclaws that would like such a game. With the British market lacking in the department of entertainment in the form of games, the ones that are known have been played for centuries and get a bit boring with time, we can probably make our company known through the younger age group easily." Arthur reported.

"Good. The interest is encouraging. I want you to send the designs for the three games to the production department. I want them ready to go into worldwide sale before the summer holidays started. If possible get the first load ready for our shop-opening in Diagon Alley." Alanius said.

"I have an idea you could also take up." Sirius spoke up. "Why don't you create some more card games? The board games are great if you have more time, but for short periods, like waiting half an hour for the next class, you would need games that don't take up much space and which you can play in intervals, like cards. The only card game that is known in the wizarding world in Britain is Exploding Snap. I know that there are many muggle card games out there. It would probably be easy to modify them. Additionally I would look into more entertainment like music for the teenagers."

"Good idea. I see we will make good profit in the game department. Arthur, Robert, take care of that. Robert, you are responsible for the creation. Send three of your men into the muggle world and do some research. I also want you to think about new ideas yourself. Arthur, start with the game your son suggested. If he has some ideas, I am willing to pay him if we have success with it. If possible I want to have it ready for a test run in a month so we can start selling it together with the other ones in summer." Alanius said. "Hamilton, you are going to put thought into the music idea. Mr Black is right, we know that music players are a best seller in the muggle world, we should make something out of that."

"Of course, I will send him a letter when the meeting is over." Arthur confirmed and Hamilton Groomer nodded.

* * *

Percy sat on the Gryffindor table during breakfast. He had the first period free, but he had planned to review his Charms notes. He was in his NEWT year and wanted to make it into the Ministry. When the post owls arrived, he spotted their new family owl Ginger flying towards him. She landed in front of him and held out her leg for him to take the letter.

"Thanks, Ginger." Percy said and gave the owl a bit of toast.

He opened the letter and began reading. He must have looked really surprised, because Ginny questioned him about it.

"What's the matter Percy?" She asked.

"Dad wrote. He had a meeting where he presented the reports we sent him about the games acceptance here at Hogwarts at JWT yesterday. They will produce them and they will be ready for sale before the summer holidays, the first three probably even for the shop opening in Diagon Alley that is planned for early March. I had written him a letter too and suggested to create another game, one that would be more interesting for the Ravenclaws especially. You know, both educational and entertaining." Percy informed her.

"Not a bad idea, Percy." Harry commented who had listened in from a few seats to Percy's left.

"Thanks, Harry. Well, Dad writes his head of department wants him to create the game and asked if I would help with it. If the game is a success, he would pay me for my part in the creation." Percy sounded like he had problems believing it.

"Great. Did you already have an idea what kind of game it would be?" Ginny wanted to know.

"Well, I have thought about it a bit. When Penny told me what the Ravenclaws wanted in a game and I had some time on my own, I wrote down a few ideas. It intrigued me that there could be such a game. When I watched others play the games Dad already had you, Ron and the twins test, I noticed that you had the most enjoyment when you saw how much better you did than the other players. So it would need a recognizable means to see who was leading in the game. But it also couldn't be too easy for one player to win." Percy explained.

Harry nodded. That was the case with Monopoly. If one player was too good, the others didn't enjoy the game as much. But that was a rare case.

"So what, the players have to collect proof of their success?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, I thought there could be questions that had to be answered in different categories. They would have to be spread over a wide range of topics so nobody feels discouraged to play the game. I think it would be possible to have questions for a younger age group and an older one. Perhaps we could charm the game so that at the beginning the players state their age and the game chooses appropriate questions for the group. The category the question is from could be decided by the board. Perhaps by throwing dices to move on the board or pulling chips from a bag." Percy said.

"It sounds like you really thought a bit about it, Percy. It sounds great." Ginny praised her brother.

Percy smiled at the praise from his little sister.

* * *

Amelia sat together with her fellow revolutionaries in the Ministry. They had assembled to decide just who could take over for Fudge. They needed a strong candidate to even have a chance to replace the corrupt fool.

"Okay, we are agreed that we need to find a proper candidate. I would like to hear some suggestions." She started.

"It won't be easy to find a candidate that combines all the qualities that we want for the one in the top position." Amos Diggory said.

"Too true. If it would be, Fudge never would have become Minister in the first place. But all other possible candidates demolished themselves before they could take over the post or were brought down by outside influence, like Barty Crouch with his Death Eater son." Rufus Scrimgeour agreed.

"You don't want to be Minister, Amelia?" Frederick Rawthorn asked.

"No, thank you. I can do more good, if I keep the DMLE working. The best possible candidate would be one who didn't prefer one department over the other." She pondered.

It was very difficult. There were not many people working at the Ministry that fulfilled the profile.

"Call me stupid, but I don't think we will find our new Minister inside the Ministry. I remember that many called for Albus Dumbledore to become Minister in the past as he was powerful, well-known and neutral to the workings in the Ministry. I don't want to suggest Dumbledore,…" Desrella Ronins was quick to elevate her statement at the disbelieving looks the others gave her "…but perhaps we need to start looking outside the Ministry for our candidate."

"Desrella is right. If we had a good choice inside the Ministry we would probably ask him or her if he or she would be the candidate right now." Frederick agreed.

"Okay, any suggestions?" Amelia asked.

They thought hard about it. After five minutes Amos Diggory shouted.

"I got it!"

The others looked at him.

"Okay, who do you think of?" Rufus asked.

"Call me crazy, but I think the best candidate would be Sirius Black." He announced.

"Sirius Black?" Amelia asked disbelievingly. "Why him?"

"I think Amos has a good idea there." Frederick said. "Think about it. The Blacks are one of our oldest pureblood houses, but Sirius has always hated the dark arts his family was infamous for. He fought in the war against You-Know-Who and is a powerful and smart wizard. He wants to change the ways things work in Britain and get the country to catch up with other nations. He is the adoptive father of Harry Potter and has therefore the support of the public. The Daily Prophet reported intensively on him helping Harry after he ran away from his muggle relatives, even if at the time he disguised himself as Comte de Jarjais. He knows how to work subtly but can also use power to reach his goals.

"And the only thing one could hold against him is his imprisonment, which was done illegally. For him to have survived Azkaban with his sanity intact is another sign of his mental strength. Furthermore, we could be sure that the Prophet wouldn't be used by Fudge to denounce his opponent, because Harry is the majority owner and insists on them reporting the truth. Hell, the boy even got Rita Skeeter to write the truth now."

The others pondered Frederick's arguments.

"The question is would he do it? I had the impression he wanted to concentrate on giving Harry the home he didn't have until now." Desrella asked.

"I think he would. If anything Sirius is skilled in time management. For three quarters of the year Harry is at Hogwarts. He only returns home at the weekends to learn about his family magic. And face it, Fudge spends more time doing nothing than leading this place. The things Sirius would have to do is representing the new direction he wants to promote and clean up the mess Fudge and Bagnold left behind and keep track of the departments. While he would be very busy in the beginning, he could decrease his workload after perhaps three months of intense house cleaning.

"If we do this right the hard part could be over when the summer holidays at Hogwarts begin." Rufus said.

"Do you really think we could get the house cleaning done until then? I think three months are awfully short." Amelia doubted the estimation.

"Huh, no I meant the election process and kicking Fudge out. We need to get the vote of no confidence over in the Wizengamot, which will probably take a month. Then we have to get the election prepared. Another month. We would have elections in early April at the soonest. Then there are about two and a half months until summer break. That would be enough time to neutralize Fudge's old toadies and either sack them for incompetence, convict them for corruption or push them in dead end positions if we can't sack them.

"We already know who they are, so we won't have to waste time to find them. Once they are out of their positions of power we can restructure. For that we don't need the presence of the Minister all the time. He could go on holiday with his son for three weeks until we have managed to set up the new working processes. I suggest we start a brain-storming once the toadies are out. We should also get rid of those that only got their positions because of their connections. I want that the important departments are staffed by skilled wizards and witches." He explained.

"Okay, now I can follow you. Who is going to ask Sirius?" Amelia asked.

"I suggest you go together with Rufus and Frederick." Amos said.

"Okay. Do you agree, Amelia, Rufus?" Frederick asked.

Both nodded.

"When do we want to do it?" Rufus asked.

"What about in three days? That would be Thursday and Sirius should be at home." Amelia proposed.

They agreed to do it that way.

* * *

Minerva met with Remus, Filius and Pomona. She wanted to discuss some things regarding Albus' new suspicious behaviour.

"Thanks for coming on this short notice." She greeted them.

"No problem, Minerva." Filius said. "What did you want to discuss?"

"Albus. He is behaving stranger than normally. For the last month I have watched him closely and he tried to hide it, but now he is openly behaving suspicious. He is meeting with Severus more often and I fear he has a new plan that includes Harry. I get the impression he will try to involve the boy in another dangerous scheme." She told them.

"So there was more to your request to keep quiet about Harry's surprising rise in his grades since the beginning of the year. I had feared it, but I didn't want to believe that the headmaster was involved." Filius sighed.

"Yes, it was. From what Sirius told me, Harry had a big number of blocks on his magic, his mind and his special abilities. Further there were spells placed on him that enraged the Dursleys and he was given potions that hindered him. The goblins took care of all of it at the beginning of the year. All hints point in the direction of Albus Dumbledore. He had the biggest interest in keeping Harry under control." Remus explained.

"Merlin, the poor boy. How could anybody do that to a child?" Pomona exclaimed.

"We don't understand it either. The motive behind all of it is unclear as of now. But we think it could be that Albus regards Harry as a weapon that will be needed in the fight against You-Know-Who if he returns, which he nearly managed the past two years. There is a prophecy that stated that Harry has the power to vanquish the dark lord. It was obviously the trigger for Albus' plans, Lily and James' deaths and the wrongful imprisonment of Sirius. I don't know the wording, but the gist is either Harry kills You-Know-Who or will be killed by him.

"Sirius is doing all he can to have Harry trained so when he should manage to return, Harry won't be unprepared. The other thing he does is showing Harry that he is loved and that he deserves a happy life. From what I overheard Harry telling his friends about his holidays over the Christmas break, he absolutely loved it in Cyprus." Minerva said.

"Yes, Sirius is undoing much of the damage the Dursleys did to Harry. If Albus thinks he might be able to use them in the future, he will be sorely disappointed. They will be standing trial in the muggle world soon. The goblins collected proof of their crimes against Harry under the cover of an audit at Harry's uncle's employer. The management of the company already decided to forward the evidence to the muggle police. They will be taken care of." Remus informed them.

"Good riddance. From the things Sirius told me I wanted to go there myself and hex them into oblivion. I should have been more persistent after Lily and James had died. I could have spared Harry his unhappy childhood." Minerva regretted.

"We all fell for the assuring words of Albus. We can't change it anymore, we can only do what will be the best for Harry and help him survive and finally have a happy life." Remus said.

"Okay, I guess we will have to do more now to keep Harry's abilities a secret. Or has Albus already found out?" Pomona asked.

"From what I know he didn't. But I wouldn't wonder if Hagrid slipped up by now. You know him. He has the biggest heart but the loosest tongue. And he adores the headmaster." Minerva stated.

"So the best thing to happen would be something that distracted Albus for a while. Best out of Hogwarts." Filius analysed.

"Right. But the problems with the pranks at the Ministry have been solved by now and I don't think it will give a repeat performance." Minerva said, looking sternly at Remus.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Minerva?" He asked innocently.

"Because I know that you were involved and got the Weasley twins on your side. As if they didn't have enough mischief in their minds already." She huffed.

"Well, it did its purpose. The Ministry and Albus were too busy to do anything to sabotage the trial of Sirius and Peter." Remus said grinning.

"Okay, admittedly it did. But to help our situation now we would need something on a similar scale that wouldn't be suspicious for Albus." She said.

"I know of something that will happen soon. I am sure you have noticed how displeased Albus is with the new games the Weasleys have brought to school with them to test them for Arthur. I know for sure that JWT will open a shop in Diagon Alley soon, because Sirius got them the license. It will be in the papers soon. They want to use the excitement for the upcoming Quidditch World Cup in England to promote their products. If I am right, Albus will be trying to hinder them." Remus informed them.

"That could be very possible. I know of their products from my cousin in Cologne. There the products are a part of daily life and not to think away." Pomona agreed.

"That will perhaps buy us a month or so. I just hope we can manage until the end of year. It would be best for Harry." Filius said.

* * *

**And, how did you like my idea of making the rebels decide that Sirius would make a good Minister? But I won't tell now if he would accept the proposition when he is told. That will be part of the next chapters :)**


	33. A Big Surprise

**Hi, it's time for the next chapter of Forging Destiny. Thanks for all your reviews. ****As a general comment to some reviewers, I ignore insulting comments. I take constructive critics of my writing serious as I know that I can always improve. My native language isn't English but German, so I know that I lack some insights to others that live in England, America, Australia or other countries where English is spoken daily.**

**Now enough of my mini rant, happy reading.**

* * *

**A Big Surprise**

Sirius waited for his three guests at home. Amelia Bones, Rufus Scrimgeour and Frederick Rawthorn had asked for a meeting to discuss something important with him. He really wondered what they could want from him. He knew that they were organizing the downfall of Fudge in the near future, but what could he have to do with that? While he would vote against Fudge if the vote of no confidence came before the Wizengamot, he couldn't think of anything that he could do right now. He also hadn't really decided if he wanted to accept Moody's offer to join SMF-3. It was interesting, but to be honest, he didn't want to risk his life now that he was a father.

And leaving Harry alone again was not something he wanted to do. Harry would need a stable home for the years to come to even think of getting ready to face Voldemort. As much as he wanted to keep his son out of a possible war, he knew it wouldn't work. If Voldemort managed to regain a body, Harry would be his prime target. He looked at the clock at the wall. Five minutes until they had said they would come.

"Kreacher." He called.

"Yes, Master Sirius?" Kreacher asked.

"Are the preparations for my guests ready?" Sirius asked.

"Of course. Kreacher prepared the snacks Master wished to have and the tea will be freshly brewed as soon as they arrive." Kreacher answered.

"Very good; thank you, Kreacher. Please bring everything here after you brought them into the lounge." Sirius said.

Kreacher bowed and popped away.

Seven minutes later the bell rang and Kreacher opened the door.

"Welcome to the House of Black. Please follow Kreacher to Lord Black." Kreacher greeted with a bow.

Amelia, Rufus and Frederick noticed that the house elf was wearing a uniform with the crest of the House of Black on it. They had to admit that it looked better than having their house elves wear pillow cases or the like.

"Lord Black, your guests have arrived." Kreacher announced the three.

"Thank you, Kreacher. Please bring the snacks and the tea as soon as the tea is ready." Sirius answered.

Kreacher bowed and popped away.

"Welcome, Amelia, Rufus, Frederick. It's a pleasure to have you at my home. Please sit down. Kreacher will soon bring some refreshments. I can recommend the cupcakes. They are really great." Sirius greeted his guests.

All four sat down in comfy armchairs around a tea table. Kreacher popped into the room with a plate of cupcakes and little tarts. He placed it on the table and popped back to get the tea. As soon as he was back he started serving tea to everybody, starting with Amelia. When everybody had their tea, he popped away again.

"Wow, your house elf is strange." Rufus commented.

"You should have seen him when I came back here. He had gone mad from overexposure of the dark artefacts my family kept in the house. It took me some weeks of curse-breaking to get the house free of residual dark magic. Now he is completely loyal to Harry and me. I wouldn't have thought the elf that was so nasty to me during my childhood would have such a turnaround." Sirius commented.

"I think Rufus means that he is wearing clothes and not complaining about it." Amelia clarified.

"They are not clothes in the sense of giving a house elf clothes and freeing them. The uniform is a symbol for the service to the House of Black. Kreacher has been in the Black family since he was born. For him serving the Blacks is his life. With a bit convincing from Harry and me he accepted that we want to give a different impression of our family. And that includes that our elves proudly show whom they serve. And they look more professional in their uniforms than in pillowcases or towels." Sirius explained.

"Amazing." Frederick said and took a cupcake. "Hm, chocolate. You were right, Sirius, the cupcakes are great."

The other two also took some cake and resorted to exchanging some news. Finally Sirius touched the question he had wanted to ask from the beginning.

"While I like having you all over for tea, I assume you had a reason to meet me." He said.

"Yes, you are right. As you know we are assembling support to push a vote of no confidence through the Wizengamot. The thing we also discussed is the person who will be taking over for Fudge once he is out of office." Amelia started.

"Not an easy task I guess." Sirius commented.

"A very difficult task indeed. We have gone over all the ones working at the Ministry and came up empty. None would really be the person we would need to lead the Ministry through some necessary put painful changes. We are aware that a thorough house cleaning will have to be done before we can even think of being an obstacle in case Voldemort returns." Amelia confirmed.

"We finally came to the conclusion that with all the competition between the departments at the Ministry for funds and influence we would be better off with an outside candidate." Rufus added.

"Okay; and you want me to help you find such a person?" Sirius asked.

"No, we want you to become Minister." Frederick said, shocking Sirius.

"What?" He shouted out. "Are you crazy?"

"Well, the thought came up that it might seem crazy to make you Minister, but there are very good arguments for you taking the position." Frederick said, amused about the disbelieving face of Sirius.

"And what arguments would that be?" Sirius wanted to know, trying to get over the shock.

"First, we need somebody from one of the old pureblood families to appease that faction. They have a lot of votes in the Wizengamot, so the only one to even have a chance to become Minister would have to be a pureblood. Second, while your family was dark, you are not, but you are also not light. You know how to use cunning and power but also how to be diplomatic. Third, you have the wealth to not be susceptible to bribery and don't need to get the position for political influence. For the next seven years you would be the single most powerful politician anyway as you would be proxy for your son.

"Your son is the next factor. The public loves Harry and as you were the one to save him from the Dursleys and have given him a home for the first time in his life, the public loves you too. You want changes and have propagated them even before your identity was revealed. And lastly you were one of the people who fought against Voldemort. While you were put into Azkaban you were proven innocent and the current administration had to take the blame for not doing right by their laws. You kept your sanity and are actively working for a better society. You have to agree that those are strong arguments, Sirius." Amelia summarized.

Sirius was silent. He thought about the arguments and could logically comprehend them. Taking the position would have advantages and disadvantages both. He would need to think about it. And he needed to ask Harry what he thought. He didn't want to make that kind of decision without his son. Harry was his top priority. James, Lily and Remus would also be good to ask for advice.

"I will have to think about it for a while. I also want to ask Harry what he thinks. I have promised to be there for him and I intend to keep that promise." Sirius finally said.

"That is understandable. We have written down our estimations of the probable timeline for the changes we intend to start. Read it thoroughly and then decide. It will be a lot of work for the first few months if you should agree, but we estimate that by the end of the year everything would have been done. And we also included some vacation time during the summer break of Hogwarts." Frederick said, handing Sirius a file with a bundle of papers.

"Okay, what do you think, how long can I take to decide?" Sirius asked.

"Take three weeks and then tell us what you think. But we really think you would be the best candidate for Minister. You have the time over the year while Harry is at Hogwarts and once everything is working smoothly your main responsibility would be representing the Ministry with other dignitaries, managing the budget and controlling the departments' work. But if Fudge managed it, you can for sure." Rufus said.

"Okay, I will do that." Sirius agreed.

Amelia, Rufus and Frederick finished their tea and then bid Sirius good-bye. They knew he had much to think about.

* * *

On Saturday morning Harry stepped out of the fire place at Grimmauld Place. He was curious what he would learn today. He was looking for his father but couldn't see him. That was strange. Normally he would be waiting for him. Perhaps he had forgotten the time and was in his study. Harry went to his father's study and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Sirius called.

Harry opened the door and entered the room.

"Harry, is it already that late?" He asked and looked at the clock on the wall. "I'm sorry, I totally lost track of time." Sirius apologized.

On his desk were three stacks of papers which he seemed to have worked on.

"No problem, Pa, I guessed it was something like that." Harry said.

"Take a seat, help yourself to some tea and biscuits, I just need to finish this, then we can start." Sirius said and Harry nodded.

He sat down in an armchair and filled himself a cup of tea and took a plate of biscuits.

"What are you working on, Pa?" Harry asked.

"This is for the opening celebrations for the JWT shop in Diagon Alley in two weeks. As I am promoting JWT in Britain, I am pretty busy with the preparations. We want to present some classic top-sellers together with some new items. We hope to break through here in Britain with the Wizarding TV. At the moment we can just use the principle of recording and playing things, much like a VCR in the muggle world works. Live events are not possible for us yet. We can't send images with magic like muggles send signals with radio waves, because the magic would interfere too much with the muggle electrics and short circuit them. Too much risk of them finding out about the wizarding world." Sirius explained.

"It still seems like a good chance. I understand it right that the Wizarding TV is brought on the market now because the Quidditch World Cup will be held in England this summer?" Harry asked.

"Exactly. In other countries the marketing for the TV devices has been started months ago and many have pre-ordered a device for their homes. Here in Britain though, with JWT not being that well-known, we need a big event to promote our products properly and the World Cup is a chance we couldn't let slip away. The new games Arthur has developed will also go into selling soon. The three that were already tested are in production now and will be available for the opening of the shop here in Britain and in the other countries in a month or so. The game Percy suggested will probably be ready for the start of the summer break as well, from what I heard from Arthur Percy is really doing a good job with the game." Sirius answered.

"Yes, I was also surprised. I think he really thought about his career ambitions. Your trial shook his faith in the Ministry. He didn't think that the Ministry would allow such blatant miscarriage of justice. I think it was good that it happened now before he was caught up in their swamp of corruption. We really need a better Minister than Fudge. How far are the rebels of the Ministry with getting their plans moved?" Harry asked.

Sirius finished his document and signed it. Then he turned to Harry. As he had mentioned it, he could as well get this over with.

"They have a plan of action and a time-table for the plan to work. They think in about a month they can get the vote of no confidence against Fudge on the way. So the end of Fudge's career would be at the end of March. Then normally we would have one month for the candidates to present themselves and then elections." Sirius said. "Once the new Minister is elected things would be a bit busy. There is a lot to be cleaned up after twelve years of corruption and bribery being normal occurrences. They expect the first part of it being over by the end of June, the next phase would mostly be done by the department heads. The Minister would only have to keep the survey of all the departments.

"In the beginning there would be a massive sacking and arresting of corrupt politicians, the incompetent fools would have to be kicked out and the overall structure remodelled to work with a leaner workforce that knows what it does. Some departments would have to get new duties and some need to do their jobs properly. Amelia and Rufus told me that they know those that fit the description and would inform the new Minister about them as soon as he was elected."

"That will be hard for the new Minister to manage that all in the first few months until everything works again. Do you know who they want to have as the new Minister?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I do. They asked me to do the job." Sirius said.

Harry was shocked. He even let his biscuit fall to the floor.

"You? They really want you to be Minister?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. They had some pretty good arguments prepared, because I had a similar reaction to yours." Sirius admitted.

"Well, what are the arguments? Not that I think you couldn't do the job, you would be worlds better than Fudge." Harry said.

"Thanks, well they argued that first they didn't have anybody in the Ministry that would combine all the characteristics they wished for in a leader. I am a pureblood, but neither dark nor light. As you know, I think in shades of grey. Therefore I would be accepted by most of the old families. The truly dark families were taken care of by the spirit of Wizengamot already. Their patriarchs sit in prison by now after going through the ritual of soul judgement. It is still discussed if they should pay retribution for working against the Magical Government with Voldemort.

"I have enough money to not be susceptible to bribery and I hold so much political sway through the Black seat and as your proxy for the next seven years that I wouldn't be tempted by more power that could be offered to me. I am seen in a very positive light for my connection with you and my actions in getting you away from the Dursleys. That I adopted you also helps in the public opinion. I am known as a powerful wizard who still knows how to use cunning when possible but who will also act if there is a danger to our world. After all I fought against Voldemort.

"The only thing anybody could say against me is that I was in Azkaban, but the whole world knows that I am innocent of the crimes I was accused of and it went through all wizarding publications, not only the Prophet. That I am still sane after twelve years in Azkaban is also seen as a sign of my mental strength which I would need on the job. It is hard to argue if you are presented with that many positive arguments." Sirius said.

Harry nodded. He had to process this for a while. He knew the arguments were true, but did he want to have his Pa become Minister? He just had got him and was getting used to have a father that took care of him. Was he ready to share him so soon? Then his rational side woke up. Sirius mostly spent his time at home. He could easily work while he was at Hogwarts. He would still be there for him on the weekends and during the breaks. And their world needed a competent leader. His father could be that leader. Did he have a right to oppose it?

"Harry, whatever I decide, I want you to agree with it. I want to know your concerns about it. Tell me if you worry about something or are scared. I know this is a huge change." Sirius said, seeing the conflicting emotions on his son's face.

"I, it is just so much to process. Logically I understand that you probably are the best man for the job. The arguments they had are true, but, will you still have time for me if you become Minister?" He asked.

Sirius sat down on the armrest of the armchair and put his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"You will always be my first priority, Harry. Never doubt that. The others also know that and agreed on that condition in case I would take the job." Sirius assured him.

"If I got elected, I would work at the Ministry from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays and Sundays we would still see each other and continue your studies and have some family time. Our vacation for the summer will still happen like we planned. Amelia and Rufus are sure until then the first phase of cleaning up will be done. The departments would need to reorganize for a month anyway so I could get away in July without a problem. After that the Quidditch World Cup would be a time where I would have some duties of representing the country. But the eighth finals start at the beginning of August.

"And with your love for Quidditch I guess you wouldn't mind to see some games. The only games I would have to be present for are those of teams from Great Britain; that means England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. And of course the final game." Sirius explained.

Harry nodded; that sounded reasonable.

"How long do you have to think about it? I don't think I could tell you my opinion right now." Harry admitted.

"I have three weeks. Take your time and think about it. If you are absolutely against me taking the job, I won't do it." Sirius promised.

Harry nodded and leaned against his father.

* * *

It was the first of March and the committee for the disposal of dangerous magical creatures met to discuss the case of Buckbeak the Hippogriff that had attacked the Malfoy heir at Hogwarts. The owner of the Hippogriff, Rubeus Hagrid was present to defend his creature, the accusation was presented by Narcissa Malfoy, as her husband was nothing more than an insane squib right now and sat in muggle prison. Just when they wanted to start they were surprised by the appearance of Sirius Black who sat down next to Hagrid. Hagrid looked extremely relieved to see the Lord of House Black.

Narcissa looked massively displeased with the appearance of her cousin, but there was no rule to keep him out of the hearing.

"Alright, let's get this done. Hearing on the charges of attack against Draco Lucius Malfoy by the Hippogriff Buckbeak during the first Care of Magical Creatures class of the term under the watch of Care of Magical Creatures teacher Rubeus Hagrid. The charges are that the accused attacked Draco Malfoy unprovoked and nearly injured him. Only the quick reaction of Harry Potter-Black prevented that the accused injured Draco Malfoy. Presenting the accusation is Narcissa Virgo Malfoy, presenting the defence is Sirius Orion Black. Presiding the hearing are Amos Fenimor Diggory for the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures and Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic. Mrs Malfoy, you have the floor." Fudge said.

He had insisted to personally take care of the hearing to ensure he was seen of doing something right by the public. Narcissa stood.

"Minister, my son, Draco, took his first lesson in Care of Magical Creatures in September of last year. The teacher for the class, Professor Hagrid," she obviously hated addressing Hagrid with the title "introduced the class to Hippogriffs. Creatures that shouldn't be shown to third years at all. They are dangerous and not suited to be handled by beginners in the class. The Hippogriff in question attacked my son when he was petting his head after having performed the procedure to approach a Hippogriff. I demand that this dangerous creature will be executed to not be any danger to other students anymore." Narcissa said.

Many murmured agreeing comments. Starting a class with Hippogriffs was a bit much.

Sirius stood. Now was his time to show them why you didn't mess with Harry's friends.

"I would like to show you the memory of my son Harry Potter-Black of the class in question. The memory has been extracted by me under the watch of Madam Amelia Bones this weekend when Harry was at home for his lessons in family magic. Madam Bones can confirm that the memory hasn't been tempered with. I think the memory will say more than any words I can say." Sirius said and poured Harry's memory of the lesson in question into the pensieve he had got from the DMLE to use during the hearing.

He tapped the pensieve with his wand and the image of the class was shown to the attendants of the meeting. When they saw the attack they looked impressed with Harry showing skills in wandless magic. Once the projection was over, Sirius tapped the pensieve again and took out the memory.

"I think that the only one to blame for that near accident is Draco Malfoy himself. Professor Hagrid explicitly warned the class to not insult Hippogriffs. The boy still did it, thinking he knew better than his teacher in the class. He was warned that it was dangerous to insult the Hippogriffs and that it could end really badly. I think the Hippogriff in question isn't any more dangerous than all Hippogriffs are. They attack if they are insulted. Everybody who has studied Magical Creatures knows that. I will admit, Professor Hagrid could have started a bit smaller, like with knarls, but Hippogriffs are a suitable part of the curriculum of third year and to give the students an interesting start into the subject they are great."

Narcissa was silently fuming. There was nothing she could say against Sirius' arguments. He had covered his bases well. Having Harry Potter's memories of the incident, the one who had saved Draco, was an iron clad proof against the overly danger the Hippogriff posed. And the Malfoy name didn't hold as much sway as it did in the past after Lucius had been arrested and put on trial for being a Death Eater. The subject just wasn't worth to spend much money on buying the judges. She hadn't expected Sirius to present the defence after all.

Amos Diggory and his colleagues discussed the shown memories and the arguments both sides brought up.

"Hippogriffs in general pose a certain level of danger, but from what we saw in the memory, that Hippogriff in question doesn't seem to be vicious. If it was, it would have hurt Potter-Black before that." Amos said.

"But it still attacked the Malfoy boy." Finius Opporis, an older member of the committee said.

"Just because the boy didn't listen to his teacher. I would think with the kind of warning Professor Hagrid gave his class it should have been obvious to the boy not to do it. He disregarded the warning and paid the price. He can be glad Potter-Black was so quick to react." Terrence Ginnis supported Amos' position.

"I think we should clear the Hippogriff. He only followed his instincts. There is no reason to execute him. And we really have better things to do than acting on a temper tantrum of the boy who caused the incident." Amos said.

That argument was agreed on. They turned to Fudge, who didn't look that happy. He had thought he could look good by getting rid of a dangerous creature.

"Did you come to a conclusion?" He asked the committee.

"Yes, we vote to clear the Hippogriff Buckbeak of attacking Draco Malfoy unprovoked. The provided memory of Harry Potter-Black proves that it was Draco Malfoy who provoked the Hippogriff into attacking by insulting him against the instruction of his teacher." Finius said.

Fudge nodded reluctantly.

"Then hereby I declare the Hippogriff cleared of all charges. Take him back to Hogwarts, Professor Hagrid." Fudge said and left the room.

"Thank you so much, Sirius. I don't know what would have happened to Beaky if you and Harry hadn't helped me." Hagrid thanked Sirius happily.

"You're welcome, Hagrid. After Harry showed me his memories, I knew Buckbeak was innocent. I just couldn't let an innocent creature be killed because my cousin's spoiled son thought it would be a good idea to have others suffer for his mistakes." Sirius said.

He knew that Rita Skeeter was in the room as the reporter from the Daily Prophet to report the case. It would make a nice article.

* * *

**So now Draco get's revealed as the spiled brat that he is. You will have to wait and see how not having Lucius around will influence him. Till next time.**


	34. JWT Opening

**Hi everybody, here is chapter 34, the great opening of JWT. Enjoy.**

* * *

**JWT Opening**

Harry had returned to Hogwarts Sunday evening. He had informed his father that he would agree with him candidating for Minister. After two weeks of thinking things over, he came to the conclusion that there would only be a few things that would change for him. While he would be known as the Minister's son, it wouldn't add that much publicity. He already was more famous than any other wizard in Great Britain anyway. He would be at Hogwarts for nine months of the year and still see his father on the weekends. There would be a few official events he would have to attend, but he would manage that. And with his father leading the Ministry they could start the necessary changes there a lot easier than they had thought before.

While Voldemort had lost a big part of his support base, it was probably only a question of time until he found a way to return. He had had two nearly successful attempts so far and there was no way to say if there were more Death Eaters out there, hidden and waiting for the return of their master. The Ministry needed to be ready for that. His business operations would be coordinated by the goblins and the few meetings with the directors of the companies could be delegated to a barrister if Sirius was too busy with his job. The really important ones were already over. Sirius had told him about the Grunnings meeting and the decision regarding Vernon.

Harry was satisfied that the walrus would get what he deserved. He didn't know yet if he would need to appear at court or if a written statement from him would be enough. But he would arrange himself with it, either way. He was not alone and his father would make sure things would be okay.

* * *

Sirius apparated to the Ministry for his appointment with Amelia and Rufus. He had informed them that he would tell them his decision today and wanted to discuss the coming actions. He had to present his wand at the checkpoint then he could proceed. With him being a member of the Wizengamot things were only routine. He took the elevator to the second floor where Amelia's office was located. He was looked at strangely by some of the workers on the floor, but they didn't bother him. Many were still processing that he had been innocent all those years. He knocked at Amelia's door and was called inside.

"Hello, Sirius. Please take a seat." Amelia said.

She and Rufus were sitting on a table in one corner of her room, discussing some charts.

"Good morning, Amelia. Good morning, Rufus." Sirius greeted and sat down on a chair at the same table.

"Tea or coffee?" Amelia asked.

"Coffee please." Sirius answered and Amelia poured some coffee in a cup.

Sirius took the cup and added a spoon of sugar.

"So, you said you have made your decision?" Rufus asked.

"Yes, I will do it." Sirius said.

Both Amelia and Rufus were relieved. Now they had a strong candidate for the position of Minister.

"Thank you, Sirius. We are pretty much done with getting the process for the vote of no confidence for Fudge to the Wizengamot. All the department heads that need to give their vote have been informed already. The meeting of the Wizengamot will be on the twelfth. It went a bit faster than we expected it. I will ask for the vote to be taken as it needs to be requested by the head of a major department. We are sure the vote will leave no doubt of the incompetence of Fudge. After the vote has gone through an interim Minister will be named until the elections are over.

"We need to nominate you as the candidate for Minister after the vote is over. Others will also announce their nominations. But as they didn't have the time to prepare like we did, they will be caught wrong footed. And many of the candidates the traditionalists could have nominated are now reduced to mostly insane squibs and sitting in muggle prison. There won't be much money involved in the elections as well. The wealthy families on the dark side are pretty much powerless, most of the wealthy families of the light side will support you and the neutral ones will only vote for the candidate they think will get them the biggest advantages.

"Except for the department heads none of the Ministry personnel will vote. And most of them will see you as a good candidate. The election is planned for the second of April. We thought having nearly three complete months before the summer holidays at Hogwarts start would be a good base. We have identified all the toadies of Fudge and have enough dirt to get rid of them." Amelia summarized.

"Okay. So the first thing I would have to do is appearing at the Wizengamot on the twelfth and giving my votes against Fudge. Then you will nominate me, I accept the nomination and we wait who else will be nominated. By the way, what if there won't be other candidates?" Sirius asked.

"Well, then we save a few weeks. If no other candidate is nominated, the election will start immediately." Rufus informed him. "But I can't imagine that they wouldn't at least try to get a candidate in position that would help their position more."

"Okay, I guess you have everything under control. I will need the files on the bigots, the incompetents, the corrupts and their transgressions to study them. By the way, you are invited to come to the great opening of JWT's first shop in England on the tenth in Diagon Alley. As I am advertising their products with my name, I will be there the whole day." Sirius told them.

"That's the company Arthur is working for now, isn't it?" Rufus asked.

"Yes, it is. Some of Arthur's new products will also be on sale. He modified some board games which were tested at Hogwarts already. They were a hit from what Harry told me. But what I really had to get was one of their new devices that shows you a recording of certain events. They have developed a method how things, for example Quidditch games, can be recorded in crystals. They will record all games during the Quidditch World Cup and for those that ordered the recordings, owls will transport those recordings to the recipients overnight. So if you don't get tickets for a game at the world cup, you still have a chance to see them the next day with the device.

"They also have other recordings, like theatrical performances, documentations on rare animals and the like. They are still working on expanding their repertoire." Sirius said.

"That sounds interesting." Amelia said. "I will visit for sure."

"As will I. I saw some of the things that Arthur got from work at his home. Some of them look really useful." Rufus agreed.

"Spread the news around, the more people becoming curious the better for the business." Sirius said happily.

* * *

It was the tenth and Sirius was busy organizing the last things for the great opening. This would be a long day, but in the end it would be worth it. Harry would come over with the Weasleys, Neville Longbottom and some others from Hogwarts around noon. They had got permission from Professor McGonagall to attend this event. In fact nearly three quarters of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor houses would be here. This opening was after all taking place on a Saturday, had been advertised in the Daily Prophet for two weeks and the games the Weasley siblings had shown around had been taken greatly by the students, so they wanted to see if they could get their own ones.

The production department had really outdone itself to get the first three finished. There was a list in the shop for games that would come out at the beginning of the summer break, like the quiz-game Percy was working on, three card games and two more board games. The advertisement for them was already presented in special areas in the shop. People who wanted to get them as soon as they were available could place their names on the lists and would be sent them as soon as they were for sale.

Then there were all the products that were best-sellers in other countries like a more advanced version of the mirrors James and Sirius had used during their school time. Now it was possible to not only connect two mirrors, but up to thirty with each other. The upper part was still the mirror part to be able to see and talk to the one you wanted to speak to at the same time. Under that there now was a field where you could write messages with a miniature pencil-like quill. The message could then be sent to one of the persons that were connected to your mirror. The whole device was placed in an unbreakable frame, which had been a problem with the mirrors James and Sirius had used.

Then there was the household helper area. Wands that were spelled to produce perfect meals. You only had to state which meal you wanted and it would be prepared as if one of the best cooks had prepared it. Invaluable for the stressed mother. The automatic one-for-all laundry-drying-ironing device. You put the clothes in the device and the device did the rest including folding and sorting the clothes into the members of the family. You only had to place a button for the member of the family the clothes belonged to on the piece of clothes. And there was no limit to how many buttons per family you wanted. The device even recognized the kind of clothes they were and took similar clothes for one go. Like all dark clothes in the first go, all white clothes in the second and so on. Sirius knew Molly loved hers. With seven children, five of them still living at home, it was really handy to just let the device do most of the work. The only thing Molly needed to do was taking the laundry down to the laundry room, place it in the basket and wait for the device to finish sorting everything. Then she only needed to place it back in the right rooms.

Next was the security area. You just needed to place a letter on a glass-plate and it would show you if anything was wrong with your letter by lighting up in different colours. A ribbon you could place on your child and let it run around and you would always know where it had gone. A mirror that would show you who was outside of a door and many others.

For the great opening JWT had organized for a stand where refreshments were handed out for free, only butterbeer, pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes, but free drinks and food was always a good way to promote a new enterprise. Then there was a raffle with mostly small prizes like small plushies, then the next better prizes were the new board games, followed by the lesser priced household helpers with the first price being a new TV. Only about five per cent of the tickets were prices in the area above the games, overall there were fifty per cent of winning tickets, forty per cent being small plushies, mostly the mascot of JWT, a white fox. That was the animagus form that Estelle Juneur had had. Five per cent were the new board games.

When Sirius looked out of the shop windows, he saw that there already were a lot of people who wanted to have a look around the new shop. The trick would be to properly advertise the new products as something all wizards and witches would want to have. But Sirius wasn't a marauder for nothing. Presentation of pranks was something he was good at and now making a big spectacle of the opening of a shop for his son would be easily done. Finally it was ten and Sirius stepped out of the shop to give a small welcoming speech.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to see that so many of you came to see a new chapter of British wizarding history being written. The great opening of the first JWT shop here in our beloved Diagon Alley. See for yourselves what the ingenuity of witches and wizards can accomplish. I promise especially the ladies that you will love the kind of products that have been created for making the dreaded housework nearly do itself. I know a witch who simply loves her new laundry device. Also single wizards, the times where we have to eat out after moving out from home to get something proper to eat are over. Here you can get wands that will produce spectacular meals on their own with only a verbal command. But don't try to use them for anything else, for that you still should use your normal wands." Sirius said and got some laughs.

"We also are the first to see the new games JWT developed, perhaps some of you have heard about them from your children at Hogwarts, I know my son Harry did like them massively, for sale. All other countries will only get them on Monday morning in one week. For this great opening we got the whole production that could be finished until now. For those that have spent a long time here to look over the products on three floors in the shop, we will have some refreshments ready in half an hour out here. Don't hesitate to ask the shop assistants or me if you want to know anything, though for specifics the assistants would be better suited as they have been informed about more things than I was, I simply am the one running the show today." Sirius said ginning and got some more laughs.

"So without further ado, enjoy the wonders JWT has brought to us today." Sirius ended his speech.

The visitors clapped and behind Sirius the huge double door was opened and people streamed into the shop, wanting to know exactly what this new shop offered.

* * *

At one o'clock a big contingent of Hogwarts students entered Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron. They were talking animatedly with each other, all looking forward to exploring the new shop. Some had made dates to meet their parents there and some had come on their own. Those in first and second year that didn't have dates with their parents were kept together by their heads of house. That came up to ten students in Gryffindor, seven in Hufflepuff and eight in Ravenclaw with two Slytherin second years that were accompanied by Daphne Greengrass and Blaize Zabini who had decided to collect information before deciding if this new shop was worthwhile or not. The whole rest of Slytherin that wasn't traditionally dark was waiting for them to report their findings.

Sirius happily greeted Harry and his friends, taking a break from his promoting.

"Hi, Pa. It looks like you are really busy." Harry said.

"Indeed we are. Since ten o'clock we have had many visitors that wanted to have a look around, ask a few questions about the products, having Molly here to tell them about her experiences with the household helpers is really great, she is manning the raffle by the way, and I think a lot of witches want to get at least the laundry device. The games are also going well. I guess we will be sold out this evening. We have already twenty four orders for the TV including subscriptions for the Quidditch World Cup games." Sirius said.

"That sounds great. I will go and have a look around with my friends. I'm curious what they are selling here." Harry said.

"Have fun, Harry." Sirius said and went back to his promotion job.

Reporters that were here to write articles about the event made some photos of Sirius and Harry and then some of the products and the raffle. Sirius had organized that a whole page on the great opening would appear in tomorrow's Daily Prophet. The Weasley siblings were telling their fellow students about some products they knew from their dad and the tour they had been given over the Christmas break.

All the Hogwarts students bought a ticket for the raffle and many won one of the plushies. After all they were about the size of a normal cat and therefore great for cuddling. The first years that did were especially happy. One of the two Slytherin second years won a Monopoly game, Daphne got an auto-meals wand, a third-year Hufflepuff, a fourth-year Ravenclaw and a first-year Gryffindor won a Cluedo game. Two sixth-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws got a game of life, a seventh-year Gryffindor won a window cleaning device and Neville got a mirror communication set with two mirror phones.

The stand with the food and drinks was always full and people were talking about the things the shop offered. The Hogwarts students stayed in Diagon Alley for three hours before Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Lupin who had accompanied the group here, called them together to floo back to Hogwarts. All had had fun this afternoon and would tell the few of the students that had stayed back at Hogwarts what they had seen. Many that didn't win a game at the raffle also had bought one. Therefore it was to be expected to see the games being a normal part of evening entertainment in the common rooms soon. Percy had also informed many of his classmates about the new game he had helped develop that would come out shortly before the summer break. Some Ravenclaws had signed up to get the game once it was ready. It sounded like fun.

* * *

Dumbledore was not a happy camper. He had wanted to deny the students to visit the JWT opening, but three of his heads of houses had overruled him and with the high number of students that wanted to go it would have looked bad on his part to not allow it when Minerva, Filius, Pomona and Remus were willing to accompany the students to London and have an eye on them. And about seventy per cent of the students had decided to go and see the new shop for themselves. To think that those abominations of wizarding culture would soon be used in the households in Britain. But he hadn't been able to stop this. Sirius Black had become a major problem. The man had used the cowering of the Ministry after the scandal with his illegal imprisonment to gain a license for the shop and was even the leading face for the promotion.

More so, Arthur Weasley's kids had made sure that the majority of students at Hogwarts were already waiting for the games to come out, which led to their parents wanting to know more about the shop that created those games their children wrote about in their letters. Many didn't even realize that most of the ideas had been taken from the muggles and then used with wizarding methods to make them work. Things would change at Hogwarts, which he didn't want. Keeping the students on a low level of education had been the key to amassing his power over the decades. Cuthbert kept them mostly ignorant about history with him sending nearly all students to sleep in his classes, Severus prevented them from becoming good in Potions, Muggle Studies was kept decades after the current situation to make the children believe that muggles were below them. There was no organized studying for subjects going above the current curriculum and with teachers being loaded with as much work as they were; there was no chance any of them could try teaching the students more than what was covered in classes.

His whole power was based on the people of Great Britain seeing him as the overly wise grandfather persona, the one who always knew best. Well, how would they with not getting the best education possible? Oh, the core subjects like Transfiguration and Charms were taught by masters of their craft, Herbology was doing well in giving a thorough knowledge of the basics, but that was it. It would give people enough skill to have no problems going about their everyday life, but students excelling far beyond their peers without an immense amount of self-study? Not possible. And there was no one who could change that. Well there shouldn't be anyone, but as soon as Harry became an adult he would have that power. He already knew about a lot of the political power he had as heir to all those influential houses, especially Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. He really hoped he wouldn't find out about the power those houses gave him over Hogwarts. Harry could force change to happen if he wanted to. But from what he knew so far, Harry while doing a little bit better, wasn't excelling in any class. None of the teachers had informed him about outstanding performances of the boy.

So his mental blocks were seemingly still working. He just couldn't lose control over the boy. He had worked too hard to make the boy his pawn. His other pawns he could lose, but not Harry. With the prophecy making him the only one being able to finish Tom, he was needed. It was already unfortunate that the Weasleys were led astray with Arthur now working for JWT. The man had been in a low respected position at the Ministry and desperate to get enough money to get his children a good education. Reducing the fees for the later Weasley children had been easy, making it look like a personal favour from the headmaster even easier. There simply was no one left to know that the charter of Hogwarts already saw to families with more than two children getting a discount rate for tuition.

Albus had always been good at spotting unwanted influences in his little isolated world of wizarding Britain. In the 1960's and 70's it was that horrible muggle music. Thankfully adjusting the wards to fry anything connected to electricity was easy. It wasn't that magic and electricity couldn't exist next to each other, it was the way it was used. If magic was used to influence anything working on electricity the electric item would be short-circuited. If magic was just used around anything electric, nothing would happen. Otherwise Diagon Alley, the Ministry and St. Mungo's wouldn't be able to be hidden in the middle of London. But thankfully nobody thought about it and believed that wards were keeping the places undiscovered. So he tweaked the wards to directly influence the electric devices the muggleborn students brought with them. Of course he didn't tell them that. He just said that magic and electricity didn't work next to each other.

The new products could thwart his wonderful plans. He didn't know yet what was for sale, but if there were things that replaced the things he didn't want to see at Hogwarts, his reprieve of them would be over.

* * *

**So, now JWT is working and selling in Great Britain and Dumbles is unhappy. Next time see how the Wizengamot will act.**


	35. Vote of No Confidence

******Hi, this is the extra special Christmas update outside of my normal update schedule. I have decided to update all of my stories for which I had the next chapter (at least) ready. So you get six update over all as well as a new story! Merry Christmas.**

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**Vote of no Confidence**

The session of the 30 March 1994 was about to start. Many people that were present knew what would happen today, though it didn't include the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore. Many of them had been asked over the last months if they would support a vote of no confidence against the Minister. With how corrupt the Minister had become and how hard it was to get the most basic things done, many were supporting the initiative of Amelia Bones to get a new Minister to the top. The trials of the Death Eaters that had been found out during the trial for Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had opened many eyes to the corruption and its consequences.

"I hereby open the session of the Wizengamot of 30 March 1994. Presiding, Chief Warlock Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. You all have got a copy of the order of the day. As usual I ask the members if there is any topic any of you wants to address before we start with the order of the day." Dumbledore said.

Amelia stood.

"Members of the Wizengamot, there is one point I want to move forward as stated in the charter of the Wizengamot. I hereby, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, based on charges of incompetence, corruption and endangerment of the country move forward to hold a vote of no confidence against Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge. I have proof against him for taking bribes from proven Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy, cutting down the funds for the departments that are responsible to keep our people safe at all times and granting influential and well-paid positions within the Ministry to his supporters." Amelia stated.

"I, Amos Diggory, Head of the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, second the forwarded motion of a vote of no confidence against Cornelius Oswald Fudge as Minister of Magic." Amos stated.

Some members of the Wizengamot were really surprised as they hadn't suspected anything like this. Fudge was loudly protesting the accusations against him, but Amelia simply sent copies of her findings to every member in the room. There was no way he could get out of this. Dumbledore, seeing the proof on the parchment, had no choice but go with it. He only hoped they didn't find a strong candidate to replace Fudge. Fudge he had been able to easily influence, even if the fool was known to be bought by Lucius on a regular base.

"Seeing this evidence and the seconded motion, I see no other option but placing this up for a vote. We are complete with each head of a house holding a seat on the Wizengamot and each head of department of the Ministry being present either in person or represented by a proxy." Dumbledore said authoritatively.

Inside he was fuming that he hadn't even known about the plan to get rid of Fudge. He could have prepared his own candidate, but he had been too busy with the JWT shop and the danger its products presented to his plans. He swished his wand and small boxes with white and black stones rose from the tables on which the members of the Wizengamot sat.

"Please use the voting devices in front of you to announce your decision. For going along with the vote of no confidence against the Minister of Magic, tap your wand on the white stone. For not going along with it, tap the black stone." Dumbledore said.

Fudge sat in his seat with a stony face. He didn't believe what was happening. He had thought the problems with Malfoy weren't known or at least there hadn't been proof of him taking bribes from Malfoy. But here was the complete list. The names of the families that voted for or against him as well as the department heads were shown as writing floating above the centre of the room. It didn't look well for him. The names voting against him were more numerous than those for him. Then nine more names appeared in one go, among them three founders heirs. That meant Sirius Black had voted as proxy for his son, but who was the head of house Slytherin? Potter only was heir to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

He didn't have much time to ponder about it. The list of those supporting the vote of no confidence was too long now for him to stay in office. This was it. He had lost the position he had enjoyed very much for a few years. All because he didn't conceal his traces well enough.

"The vote has been finished. With 173 to 52 votes Cornelius Fudge was voted out of the position of Minister of Magic by a vote of no confidence." Dumbledore announced.

Amelia stood again.

"Following the passing of the vote of no confidence against former Minister Cornelius Fudge, I hereby place Cornelius Fudge under arrest on charges of corruption in office and endangerment of the country. Aurors, take him to a holding cell." Amelia stated.

Gawain Robards and Kingsley Shacklebolt followed their orders and took away the former Minister, who was protesting his treatment.

"Very well. Following procedure in case of a successful vote of no confidence we need to select candidates for the election of a new Minister of Magic. The election will be held in four weeks' time for the candidates to present themselves to the public and the members of the Wizengamot." Dumbledore said. "Any suggestions?" Dumbledore asked.

There first was a lot of discussing. Amelia had decided to first give the other factions the chance to nominate their candidate. She didn't need to worry or think who might be suited, her candidate was ready. She had been surprised seeing the Slytherin vote coming up, but probably that was something that had been kept a secret on purpose. With how often Harry had now defeated Voldemort, who was the last known heir of Slytherin there was the possibility that because of that Harry had got the headship of the house. It could also be that a wraith couldn't claim being the head of a house. Whatever it was, it was working in their favour. After ten minutes no nominations had been made, so Amelia thought it was time for her party to do it. She subtly gave Frederick the sign to proceed.

"I, Frederick Marcel Rawthorn, head of the Noble House of Rawthorn, nominate Sirius Orion Black, head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, head of the Noble and Ancient House of Rivermoor and Comte de Jarjais for the position of Minister of Magic." Frederick said.

"I, Patrick Simon Greengrass, head of the Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass second the nomination." Patrick Greengrass, one of the allies Sirius had won among the neutral families said.

"We have a valid nomination for one candidate." Dumbledore forced himself to say. This could become a major problem for him. "Sirius Black, do you accept the nomination?" Dumbledore asked, following procedure.

"I do." Sirius answered.

It was obvious now that Sirius had been informed about this beforehand. But all those present had to admit, no matter of grudgingly or not, that the whole thing was done masterfully. And the choice of candidate was also quite cunning. The majority of the light and neutral houses were already his allies from the time he had posed as Orion de Jarjais. The dark houses didn't have anybody ready to candidate as all their major players had been former Death Eaters and were now insane squibs. They simply didn't have the time to recover from that blow yet. And even if they had had more time, without knowing about the vote of no confidence, they would have put their support behind Fudge, whom they had bribed and formed to follow their bidding.

Dumbledore asked for more nominations, but to his utter annoyance there were no more nominations. And he himself couldn't nominate somebody while performing his duty as chief warlock. Too many could see the advantages that having Sirius as Minister of Magic would have for them. Exactly what the Ministry rebels had hoped for by choosing him. The one to most definitely being against Sirius as Minister and who would try to run against him, Narcissa Malfoy, also couldn't nominate herself. And she was only the proxy for the Malfoy seat until her son came of age; not that anybody wanted her in the position from those being present. Amelia and Rufus had done a marvellous job getting the Ministry department heads behind them.

"This is the last opportunity to nominate another candidate for the position of Minister." Dumbledore said, but no one was speaking up. "Very well. As there are no more candidates clause four of the Election Rules for Minister of Magic apply. We will continue with the election immediately. Those for the election of Sirius Orion Black as Minister of Magic are to tap the white stone; those against the election are to tap the black stone with their wands." Dumbledore said.

Over the next five minutes the votes were taken. Then Dumbledore announced the end result.

"The total votes for Sirius Black are 163. The votes against him are 47. This means 15 abstentions. Sirius Black, do you accept the vote?" Dumbledore asked.

"I do, Chief Warlock, Dumbledore." Sirius answered.

"Well, then it is my duty and pleasure…" Dumbledore had to force himself to keep smiling, "… to announce you as the new Minister of Magic for Great Britain. Minister Black, please come here to swear the oaths of your new position."

Sirius stood and was greeted with enormous applause from the other members of the Wizengamot. Sirius swore to uphold the duties of Minister to the best of his ability, to always work for the benefit of the people of Great Britain and to uphold the laws. The thing he wondered about most was how Harry would take the news that his father was now Minister of Magic. They both hadn't expected that no other candidate would be nominated. They had thought at least the attempt to stop his ascension to office would be taken.

* * *

Directly after the session of the Wizengamot, which was closed after the election and the order of the day postponed until the next session to give the new Minister of Magic the opportunity to get established in his office, Sirius called Kreacher and told him to get Harry during the lunch break at Hogwarts. He wanted to tell his son in person and not have him find out from the Daily Prophet tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile he was looking through the heaps of documents on the Minister's desk. What he saw made him frown. This was worse than Amelia had described it. Obviously Fudge didn't think much of working efficiently. The first thing he did was searching the room for listening devices and he found four of them. He placed them all in a box which he secured with a silencing spell. Really, security here definitely sucked. He would have Amelia look into the matter later. He had one hour and twenty minutes before he heard a pop and saw his son standing in the office next to Kreacher.

"Pa? Why did you have Kreacher get me so suddenly? Did something happen?" Harry asked.

Sirius placed a privacy ward around the room and then turned to his son.

"Yes. As you know the session of the Wizengamot which we wanted to use for the vote of no confidence against Fudge was today. I wanted to tell you the results before you read them in the Prophet tomorrow morning." Sirius said.

Harry nodded and looked at his father expectantly.

"Well, the vote went through without any doubt and Fudge was sacked and arrested by Amelia. He is now in a holding cell here at the Ministry, while Amelia prepares his trial. During the nomination for the candidates for Minister I was the only one that was nominated over half an hour. Without any competition for the position clause four of the Election Rules is valid, meaning the vote is taken immediately to ensure the best possible working of the Ministry. So I can proudly announce that you are now the son of the Minister of Magic." Sirius said smiling.

"Really? You are now Minister, Pa? That's great. You will definitely do a much better job than Fudge and Bagnold did." Harry said happily. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Harry. I really wanted you to know before anybody else. After all we thought it would be a month until it was official. Well, I guess that means we have one more month to get things cleaned up here. From the first short look through the documents Fudge was working on things are really bad here. I will have to change how things are done around here quickly to not go insane." Sirius said.

"I'm sure you will manage, Pa. How about a celebration?" Harry suggested.

"Sure. As I can't take you out of Hogwarts for a day, we will have to wait until Saturday though. But then we will go out to a good muggle restaurant. I don't think anybody would bother us there. What kind of food would you prefer so I can make the reservation?" Sirius asked.

"Chinese." Harry answered.

"Chinese it is then." Sirius nodded. "Well, the earlier election will mean I can't spend much time with you over the Easter holidays. What do you want to do for that time?" Sirius asked apologetically.

"That's okay, Pa. I know this is important. I can just stay at Hogwarts over the break with my friends. With the upcoming exams I will be busy enough. And I can still see you on the weekends. Our summer vacation isn't influenced by this after all." Harry said.

"No, I have already cleared those weeks in my appointment calendar. We will spend three weeks in France and then return in time for the Quidditch World Cup." Sirius confirmed.

"Great, can you reserve some tickets for my friends too? I'm sure they would like to see some matches live." Harry asked.

"Certainly. I will make sure that a good number of seats will be reserved especially for the final match. From what I read about the teams that are qualified, we can expect great matches." Sirius promised.

"I'm looking forward to it. What will you do first now?" Harry asked interested.

"I guess calling in all the department heads. I want to get the clean-up started as soon as possible. We need to get the Ministry working more efficiently soon. From what Amelia told me, Fudge has organised the reinstatement of the Triwizard Tournament for next year with Hogwarts hosting it. While that in itself is a good idea, we need to make sure it doesn't end in a disaster. And if I let Ludo Bagman set up the tasks that will happen. The man doesn't have a good sense of restriction. Additionally all the eyes will be on England this year anyway for the World Cup. With me just being named new Minister I will be in the centre of attention. While we took the Wizengamot completely by surprise with the surprise vote and election, there are some that will try to hinder my plans." Sirius explained.

"Okay, I guess you will be really busy. I think I better get back to school. Arithmancy starts in fifteen minutes and I need to get my books." Harry said.

"Let Kreacher pop you over to the secret passageway close to the Gryffindor common room; that should give you enough time to be on time for your class." Sirius suggested.

"Will do. Good luck for your start, Pa." Harry said.

"Thank you, Harry." Sirius replied and Kreacher took Harry back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Over the next four weeks Sirius did twelve hour shifts at the Ministry to get the mess Fudge left his office in under control. He replaced the toadies of Fudge, thankfully Umbridge had already lost her magic before or she would have been the worst one protesting, with capable witches and wizards. He got the corrupt ones that Amelia and her group had identified questioned and persecuted by the law. Most lost their positions and had to pay fines for their crimes. Some also got a few years in the low security wing at Azkaban. Sirius cherished the weekends where he could spend time with Harry. It was time where he didn't need to worry about what happened at the Ministry.

As he had feared Ludo Bagman had some ridiculously dangerous tasks planned for the three champions to face; first a dragon, then rescuing a hostage from the lake in freezing February and then a maze that couldn't be watched from the outside. No, this wouldn't do at all. The British Ministry of Magic would become a laughing stock if they came up with those tasks. So Sirius put a team of six young witches and wizards on the task to come up with difficult and interesting tasks that a normal student could manage. It had to be entertaining, but not be potentially lethal. It should also include more than one champion from each school as the others would otherwise be too bored over the year. The team happily set out to come up with good tasks.

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**I know it's shorter than the chapters before, but the rest didn't fit into the chapter without making it too long. Till next time.**


	36. Clean-Up

**Hi, finally the next chapter of this story. Only one more for this part. I am keeping it to one story per book and am already working on the sequel. Now happy reading.**

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**Clean-Up**

The next four weeks the students from all houses asked Harry about his father becoming Minister of Magic and Harry tried to answer their questions as well as he could, even if he was a bit annoyed with how impertinent some were. Thank Merlin for his friends who simply knew when he needed to get away from all the publicity and made up excuses for him. Most students were supportive of the new course the Ministry took. Sirius had made sure to announce his program for his reign through the Daily Prophet. Many witches and wizards were surprised how different this was from what they were used to by the Ministry. Sirius opted to increase the security levels by having all employees sign contracts that they wouldn't reveal Ministry secrets to anybody outside their respective working areas and the department heads. This was to ensure that in case there ever was another dark wizard trying to take over the country like Voldemort had done no vital information could be leaked out.

Next was setting up investigations how effective the departments of the Ministry were working. Each employee had to answer to their department heads and an independent investigative group. All members of that group had to swear oaths that they would judge as objectively as possible, looking out for certain things that had been deemed important beforehand. While that investigation caused a storm of fury within the incompetent and corrupt politicians, Sirius ignored it. This was necessary if they wanted to survive against Voldemort if he managed to come back before they managed to find and destroy all of the maniac's horcruxes. If he didn't and they got rid of all horcruxes it would still be a good precaution.

Rita was having field days airing out the dirty laundry of the corrupt politicians in bought or favoured positions. Everyone that had hidden crimes was put on trial and sentenced depending on the severity of the crime.

Harry had been informed about Dumbledore finding out about his high grades by Remus. The old headmaster had not been happy that all of his plans had been destroyed, but now there was nothing he could do anymore. With Sirius being Minister Harry had the best possible protection and Dumbledore had lost a lot of political clout over the mess of Sirius not getting a trial already. Harry would still have to be careful; the old man was still dangerous.

* * *

Vernon Dursley was sitting in his living room not understanding the world. He had been fired from his position at Grunnings. Then when he had arrived at home he had been surprised by the sight of a police car standing in front of his house. When he had asked what they were doing here he was handed a search warrant for his house to collect evidence regarding the treatment of his nephew Harry Potter at the hands of his relatives. It turned out that there was a case against him and Petunia and even Dudley was investigated for his behaviour against his cousin and other children both here in Little Whinging and at Smeltings. Though in Dudley's case there wouldn't be as harsh consequences if the investigation turned out positive. He was still a minor after all. Vernon and Petunia were facing much worse. How could this have happened just because of the freak? They should never have accepted the boy. He should have gone to an orphanage.

He saw that Petunia was horrified seeing the neighbours craning their necks at what was happening at Number Four. She was mortified that they would now think that they were the freaks and not their nephew. She wouldn't be able to show her face for ages. And if this was made public they would have to move.

Then the policemen read them their rights, arrested Vernon and Petunia and told them that a court date would be sent to them by post. Pending the results of the questioning they would either be kept in custody or allowed to return home waiting for the trial. In case of the latter they were forbidden to leave the country or face harsher penalties. The only thing left to do was hiring a good barrister that would tear apart the lies that the freak had thought up to get them into this mess. Vernon Dursley as always was unable to see that he himself was at fault for his current situation.

* * *

Dumbledore was seething in his office. He had just found out just how much of a change there had been in Harry's grades since the start of the year. Not only was he sure that all of his carefully placed blocks on Harry were gone, all of his plans of using the boy as his pawn and sacrificial lamb were done for. The boy excelled in all of his classes and was competing with Hermione Granger for the top spot of his year. Why didn't any of the other teachers mention this? When he had asked Hagrid why he didn't tell him about Harry's impressive performance Hagrid simply said he had thought that Dumbledore knew because he always knew the things that were going on around the castle and that Harry didn't like to boast about his abilities because he already got enough attention all the time. The others said that the performance of Harry wasn't Dumbledore's concern and as he never asked about any of the other students they didn't see the need to inform him about Harry as he would have seen the end-of-year results anyway and would have found out then.

How dared they? He was Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Light, the most powerful wizard of them all. How dared they mock him like that? And he couldn't do anything to get the boy back under his thumb. Harry was a dual founder's heir and therefore the castle itself would stop him from harming the boy inside the walls and the grounds. He had no pawns that he could move to make Harry follow his leadership. The Weasleys were out of his reach. Arthur now earned a lot of money and as the JWT shop in Diagon Alley flourished he would be earning even more as he had been the one to modify the games that were a big seller. He had visited the store to find out if there was a way to sabotage the things they sold, but to his annoyance there was none.

The things were run by magic and therefore they worked really well in an environment like Hogwarts. And he suspected that Harry would ask the castle to stop him from interfering with the things the students got in that shop. He didn't make a secret of how much he liked the things JWT sold. From what he had heard from his sources the goods the shop offered were taken well by the people. It was new, it made their lives easier and the entertainment area was something that had been lying bare for decades without any improvement. And the advertisements in the Daily Prophet promised more things being ready for the start of the summer holidays.

* * *

Sirius sat in an armchair and watched Harry attempting the animagus transformation. His son had done his homework and really found out all there was to know about panthers, magical cats and predators in general. He had drawn pictures of a panther in many different situations to better imagine how his animagus form should look like. Now he only needed to learn the actual transformation. Harry had got the legs and the torso down by now. What he found difficult were the tail and the head. But he was close, Sirius knew it. He had after all done this himself as a student and knew that things like a tail and the head, which was always the last part of the transformation, were the hardest as they were the most different from your normal body.

Then Harry seemed to have got it as a tail sprouted from his back and his head began to shift. But just before Harry got the full transformation down he seemed to hesitate and shifted back. Harry was breathing hard and was sweating.

"You are really close now, Harry." Sirius complimented.

"Thanks, Pa, but I, it was like I was hitting a brick wall just before I shifted fully." Harry commented sounding disappointed.

"Don't worry, that's a normal complication. The last step is letting your animal take over your body, which is hard to do. You need to exchange your normal thoughts and instincts for the animal's. In the beginning that's a frightening thing. Take a break for ten minutes; then we will start your next lesson in History. Your magic needs to rest for a while before you can attempt a new transformation." Sirius told Harry. "I'm very proud with how far you have already come, Harry."

"As are we." James piped up from his portrait.

"Yes, Harry. It's incredible how far you have already come." Lily confirmed.

"Thanks, Mum and Dad." Harry said happily.

Harry went to stretch a bit while Sirius set up the pensieve. He chose the next memory and poured it inside. Today they would listen to a lecture about witch hunts. It was also part of the normal third year curriculum, but with Binns teaching it there wasn't much Harry would be able to get from the lessons even if he would have attempted to pay attention. Right now Harry did homework, read up on things he was interested in, played hangman with Ron or took a nap in that class. Sirius could understand him. Binns was dreadful.

The pensieve course was much better. If Sirius got his way and he was sure he would soon, Hogwarts would undergo an educational reform. He had used his influence that he had gained during the time as Orion de Jarjais to plant the seed of doubt in Dumbledore's decisions regarding the educational standards at Hogwarts, based on what Harry made sure to write in his letters. The official ones that could be shown around. He spoke about the lessons, how certain ones were useless right now and why it was the case. He expressed wishes for improvements and Sirius was using them as a starting point to discuss things with a team from the Department of Magical Education. They were the ones setting up the OWL and NEWT exams each year, so they knew where the best and worst results were achieved. As Sirius already knew those were Potions and History.

Once Harry returned to continue his studies, Sirius let Harry enter the pensieve to join the lesson while he continued going over some paperwork that he still had to deal with. Mostly it was from Gringotts, informing him about the development of his and Harry's investments.

* * *

Oliver Wood was as much maniacal about the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw as ever. While they had won the match against Slytherin with a good margin there was no reason to rest in his opinion. He was in his last year and he wanted to win the damned cup at least once in his Hogwarts career. The team had had the worst luck ever with how the two previous years had gone. First year Harry's unconsciousness in the last match and last year the cup being completely cancelled. But this year he would hold the cup. So his team was put through the paces. They trained different strategies to counter the Ravenclaws and Harry was told to not go soft on Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker. Well, it wasn't as if he would hold back on his new firebolt. It had been his main Christmas present from his father. Sirius not only had felt the need to spoil Harry a bit, he also wanted to make up for the twelve years of birthdays and Christmases he had missed.

Oliver had been ecstatic to see Harry zoom around on the broom during training. He had come up with a whole bunch of new strategies for Harry to use. Harry was very tempted to pull a Wronski Feint on Malfoy, but sadly the game against Slytherin was already over. Well, next time. This time he would use his improved body build and flying skills to interact more in the game. When he had still been a scrawny little twit the best strategy had been to rely on speed and perceptiveness to catch the snitch before the other seeker did. Other strategies were a bit too dangerous for him then. Now he had more options. While he still needed to keep the other seeker from getting the snitch before him, he could interfere with the chasers by stealing the quaffle whenever he was close.

There was no rule that forbid other players than the chasers and the keeper to handle the quaffle, it just wasn't done very often because the player that did, with the seeker being the only viable option as the beaters were normally too busy attacking the opponent team or protecting their own team, had to still play his original position. But Harry had the skill to play that kind of seeker. And Chang had no chance of out-speeding a firebolt on her broom which added to the advantage of letting Harry play that version of seeker.

The one thing Professor McGonagall had forbidden Oliver to do was having his team train early in the morning. She wouldn't stand for them being too tired to work properly in class. Last year Harry had had problems coordinating the early morning training with his schoolwork, especially in bad weather. While he was working out in the mornings, he had mostly changed it to swimming in the Room of Requirement. He really liked swimming now that he had learned it. Thanks to the Hogwarts house elves whom Harry had asked where the Room of Requirement might be, with the intention to find the horcrux made of Ravenclaw's Diadem, he had found the room. Dobby had looked through the whole room of hidden things to find the diadem for days until he had managed to find it. Gringotts had taken care of transferring the soul piece into a worthless stone and then destroyed it.

They had got a masterpiece of goblin forging for their work. An ancient shield that had been gifted to one of Harry's ancestors had been gifted to them for the work. The diadem was an heirloom of Harry's and he wanted to keep it. The goblins gladly helped with the process.

After that Harry had used the room for his training. He swam an hour every morning as swimming was relaxing for him on the one hand and built up his muscles on the other. Since he had learned how to swim over the Christmas holidays he had taken a liking to the sport. He had decided to continue swimming and also learn Kung Fu. For now that would be enough. It would help his self-defence abilities and still be fun.

* * *

Sirius checked his big to-do-list, which was placed behind his desk in his office at the Ministry. He had put all points that needed to be taken care of on it to have everything done in time. He also had a training dummy that looked like Fudge placed in one corner to take out his frustration over the mess his predecessor left for him. The dummy had suffered massively from Sirius' attacks. Nobody commented on it though. Sirius' teams for the different areas could completely understand the need to vent frustrations. They had felt that urge for years and hadn't been able to do so. For now the first steps of cleaning up were done. He had set up the Triwizard commission, the education commission, the anti-corruption commission and the efficiency commission. The last two would point out the problems within the Ministry of Magic. While he knew most of what was going on from Amelia and the rebels, he wanted to be sure to not overlook anything.

Additionally it would give him the time to deal with the detected Death Eaters that had managed to hide. Arrest warrants for those that were found were issued immediately and it was mandatory to question them under veritaserum in presence of a barrister. The questions were standard ones and all above the five questions had to be okayed by the barrister. Those questions were:

_1. Are you a Death Eater?_

_2. Did you join the Death Eaters voluntarily?_

_3. Have you helped the Dark Lord Voldemort willingly or would you do it if he returned?_

_4. Have you committed any crimes that could harm wizarding Britain?_

_5. Have you ever used an unforgivable curse on a human being?_

Nobody could argue against these five questions as they concentrated on the worst crimes possible. For normal criminals after those questions the antidote to veritaserum would be given, Death Eaters would be questioned further to find out all information on Voldemort, possible plans and efforts made to destabilize the country. Sirius would do all he could to not give Voldemort any hold into their government. The Wizengamot had easily agreed on these questions.

Discussing important issues with those mostly old fools was taxing. They were so used to letting either bigots like Lucius Malfoy buy them or following a goody two-shoes like Dumbledore that it would need a lot of time to get them to do their duties properly again. The younger ones around his own age were a bit easier to handle as they wanted to ensure that their children wouldn't have to deal with all the trash that was left from Voldemort's war. Seeing in the trials of the discovered Death Eaters just how much damage had been allowed to happen just because scum like them had been allowed to buy themselves free of persecution made many sick to their stomachs.

Sirius would be damned if he let things be like they were now for Harry to deal with them. Many, including Dumbledore, seemed to believe that it was Harry's duty for some reason to be the one taking care of things. He was the Boy-Who-Lived after all. Sirius quickly stopped those ideas. His son was thirteen years old and was just learning about his position in the wizarding world thanks to Dumbledore's neglect. And Dumbledore with his ridiculous ideas of giving bastards a second chance had a big part in letting things get as bad as they were right now. But his time would come. Sirius was preparing cutting down the influence Dumbledore had without stepping on too many toes of Dumbledore's loyal dogs. The key would be making it look like consideration for Dumbledore's too large workload, meaning taking away some of Dumbledore's positions, starting with the ICW. It was simple to argue that Dumbledore was doing too much and therefore he neglected important parts of his duties.

Normally it should all get to a close in about six months. When Hogwarts hosted the Tournament Dumbledore would be too busy to really argue against him having to let go of one position. Later he would have to let go of another. When Sirius would rightly demand that a person in a position as important as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot or the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW should concentrate all his effort in said positions, Dumbledore would have to choose. And he knew the old manipulator wouldn't give up his power over Hogwarts to keep a political position, no matter how important it was.

And as Hogwarts' heir Harry was safe inside the castle, even if Dumbledore was the headmaster. He no longer was Harry's magical guardian and therefore Harry wasn't obliged to follow the crazy plans of the old man. He was sure that Dumbledore would try to fight for his influence, but he would be too late. Sirius would ensure that his son could grow up without worrying about whatever insane scheme the old man had cooked up. He had found some very interesting journals in the Black Family Vault. His aunt Cassiopeia really had had dirt on everybody. And he wasn't above using it if it guaranteed his son's safety and happiness.

* * *

It was the day of the match against Ravenclaw and to Harry's delight his father was in the audience watching. He had asked Professor McGonagall if he could watch his son's match and she had readily agreed. Now Sirius and Remus sat in the Gryffindor stands, excited that they would see Harry play. Remus had missed the last game thanks to his condition and had only shown up in the hospital wing in the evening once he had overcome the fatigue that always followed the transformation, even with the wolfsbane potion. Sirius hadn't told Harry that he would come, it was a surprise. The press thankfully didn't know either. It would be big news that the Minister of Magic visited a Quidditch match at Hogwarts. But today he wasn't the Minister of Magic; today he was a father who wanted to see his son play Quidditch.

Finally the two teams came out of their locker rooms. Thankfully today the weather was much better than last time Harry had played. And there were no dementors around anymore. This would make things so much better. Madam Hooch let the bludgers and the snitch loose and then threw the quaffle up and the teams kicked off. The game was fast paced. Gryffindor secured the quaffle for themselves and the attack was on. Harry for now stayed above the action, looking out for the snitch while the Ravenclaw seeker, a pretty girl Sirius noticed, tried to distract his son. He wondered if she would succeed.

A look on his son's face told him she wouldn't. The smirk was so similar to his own it was startling. Harry had something planned, that much was obvious, but what? Then the Gryffindor chasers scored the first time and the spectators around them cheered and they followed. Ravenclaw now had the quaffle. Harry shot down through the throng of chasers, the other seeker trying to follow. The announcer complimented the abilities of Harry's firebolt. It was funny to hear McGonagall reprimanding the boy. It reminded him so much of how she had told off the marauders in their school time. When Harry passed the Ravenclaw chasers, he quickly hit the quaffle out of a male chaser's hands and over to his Gryffindor teammate. Then he continued his dive with the Ravenclaw girl still behind him, even if Sirius couldn't see the snitch at all.

So Harry was playing interfering seeker. Interesting. Well, one thing he could say without a doubt was that Harry was an even better flyer than James. The boy seemed to have been born to fly. Sirius continued following the moves that the two teams showed. The Ravenclaws seemed to get frustrated because Gryffindor was pulling away quickly. The chasers and Harry didn't let them into the Gryffindor half at all it seemed. Right now, after twenty minutes the score was already 60:0 for Gryffindor. And the Ravenclaw seeker didn't seem interested in finding the snitch herself, she was busy keeping Harry from finding it. Well, that would prove dangerous if he knew his son.

True to Sirius' suspicions Harry put the girl through the paces while still interfering with the Ravenclaw chasers. He had the faster broom and the greater skill in the air. It was a joy watching him fly. Finally Harry seemed to seriously go after the snitch. Well, the score right now was 140:0. If Harry got the snitch, they would win, if not, they would lose. Well, from what he saw the girl didn't have a chance to beat Harry. He had pulled away a good part and she seemed to know it from the look on her face. Harry caught the snitch just after the Gryffindor chasers scored their fifteenth goal. That was harsh on the Ravenclaws. Being defeated 300:0. But Harry had been incredible. He was so proud of his son right now.

The team landed and Harry was hugged by the girls who couldn't resist kissing him on the cheek, which he clearly hadn't expected judging by his beet-red face. Sirius could only laugh at that. He was so innocent still. He and Remus made their way down to the celebrating Gryffindors. It was time to congratulate his son. Once he had managed to get through the masses of students that had run towards the winner team, he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry turned around and looked surprised.

"Pa, you're here? Did you see the match?" Harry asked smiling brightly.

"I did. You were great, Harry. Congratulations for the victory." Sirius said grinning.

"Thanks, Pa." Harry replied happily.

"That was a great match from all of you." Sirius addressed the Gryffindor team who beamed at the praise.

"Will you stay for a while?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, until after dinner." Sirius confirmed.

"Great, let me take a quick shower, then we can talk." Harry said.

Sirius nodded.

"Alright. I will keep Moony company until you are done. We will be in his office." Sirius said.

"I will be there soon." Harry said and went to the locker room to take a shower, the rest of the team following his example.

* * *

Harry had a fun day. After showering he spent the afternoon with his father and Moony. They talked about things the marauders had done at Hogwarts, Harry's adventures with his friends, like smuggling Norbert out of Hogwarts, and plans for the summer. Harry loved the descriptions of the villa in France where they would stay and couldn't wait to see it. Moony promised to visit sometimes. So far things looked very good for him at Hogwarts and if nothing unexpected happened he would be the first DADA professor to break the one year curse on the position. Harry told his father and surrogate uncle that he was on a good way to ace the exams at the end of the year and how even Ron was putting a lot more effort into his studies. The inter-house research groups were also now getting to a point where they would soon be able to present the results of their investigations. Harry was looking forward to it.

They went down to dinner together and there Sirius and Remus went to sit at the head table while Harry joined the Gryffindors who often clapped him on the back for his great performance earlier in the match. Harry knew that the real party would start after dinner, like it always did.

He wasn't disappointed when they all reached the common room. Music was playing, snacks were placed on the tables and crates of cold juice and butterbeer were placed all around. They all celebrated their victory late into the night until Professor McGonagall ended it at two in the morning. While she appeared annoyed most noticed the small smile threatening to show on her face. After all, it was a badly kept secret that she was the most fanatic Gryffindor fan.

* * *

**That's it for this time. Hope you liked it.**


	37. Exams

**Hi, here is the last chapter for Forging Destiny. I am already working on the sequel Embracing Destiny, which will cover Harry's fourth year, but I only have about one and a half chapters and it's easier for regular updates to have at least a few more prepared, so please be patient. I will inform you through this story when I have posted the sequel.**

**Thanks to all of you that have followed this story and I hope you will also like the sequel once I have it ready. **

**Happy reading.**

* * *

**Exams**

It was finally time for Harry to really show Dumbledore how much his plans had failed. He was ready to sit his exams for third year. The house cup was as good as Gryffindor's thanks to them winning the last match against Hufflepuff too. The Quidditch Cup had brought the all over points up a lot. He was really glad that he had convinced Hermione to drop Divination and Muggle Studies early into the year, because she was already stressed out enough with the preparation for the other ten subjects. With her need for perfectionism she was already overdoing things. He didn't want to imagine how much she would have suffered if she would have had two more subjects. First up was Potions and he was determined to show Snape what he could do. The ass hadn't been any different in all the year compared to before even if Harry's performance in class had massively improved. Well, with the educational reform that would start next year he would have to shape up or be out of a job.

What that man called teaching was criminal. Well, the exam was easy enough with brewing strengthening solution from memory. From Snape's furious look on his face there was nothing wrong with Harry's potion. How Snape hated that the son of his enemies was this good in his class suddenly.

The next parts were Charms and Transfiguration which Harry could easily perform. He was glad that those two exams concentrated on the practical part and only had short quizzes on the theory. Having to do long written tests here would have been exhausting with the other written parts for Astronomy, History, Runes and Arithmancy. In Charms they had to perform a cheering charm on one of their classmates and in Transfiguration Professor McGonagall wanted them to transfigure a teapot into a turtle.

Hagrid had put together an assortment of creatures for his test. They had to identify a knarl within hedgehogs and identify four other creatures and give a basic summary about their traits and preferred food. It was easy Harry thought. There were salamanders, chameleons, krups and runespoors. Harry had a nice little chat with the runespoors.

The most interesting exam proved to be Defence Against the Dark Arts where Moony had put together an obstacle course with different dark creatures that had been covered in the year. The third years had to deal with redcaps, a hinkypunk, a grindylow pool and banish a boggart. Harry liked how much his favourite classes concentrated on casting spells or using their new knowledge contrary to simply answer written questions. Harry was sure after perfectly banishing his dementor boggart with a patronus followed by a riddikulus that he had got a great mark. Moony confirmed it happily when he left the trunk with the boggart.

It was the third to last day of term. The exam results were given to the students. Harry was very happy about his. He had scored 110% in his Transfiguration exam, 107% in Charms, 99% in Potions, much to Snape's annoyance he would bet, 100% in Astronomy, 90% in History of Magic, the pensieve lessons had been what enabled him to pass with that high a grade, 102% in Ancient Runes, 104% in Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures and an incredible 150% in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry was incredibly happy about his grades. He had even beaten Hermione in Transfiguration, Charms and Defence. He was overall ranked second, only one point behind Hermione who had got 100% in History and therefore got the top spot. He didn't really mind. He didn't need to be first of the year, but his overall grades were something he could proudly show his father once he got home.

Harry hung out with his new friends in all the other houses who also enjoyed the last days without work until they would return home to see their families. The research groups had decided to hand in petitions to the Ministry for creature rights, the request to get a mandatory class on wizarding traditions as even some children from wizarding families didn't know all there was to know about things in the wizarding world and one for more physical activities as one research group had found out that your magic got stronger if you exercised. Harry happily promised that he would ask his father to support the ideas.

The creature research group wanted to establish rules that forbid the punishment of house elves. That one step would help a lot. They had agreed that the elves didn't want to be freed as the bond gave them magic from their families. Some muggleborns, among them Hermione, had had problems accepting that, but the petition to make it illegal to punish them with curses or other hurtful ways was a major step in the right direction. Additionally over time the elves would have to be forbidden to punish themselves if they thought that they did something wrong. This would take time as it was ingrained in most house elves. Even Dobby after he had been freed had had problems with that. He sometimes when Sirius asked him to talk about the secrets of the Malfoys had to fight the urge to punish himself.

The traditions group had come up with many wizarding celebrations that weren't really celebrated anymore. Like Walpurgis, Yule, Beltane and Samhain. They wanted to learn more about those traditions and celebrate them at Hogwarts. Beltane was customary a huge feast to celebrate spring and the reawakening of the world around. While some customs were not suited for children, for the older ones it would be important to know about the rituals that could strengthen their magic, even if some of them were based on sex. In older times the magic of sex had been used more freely. But the group agreed that only those in sixth and seventh year needed to know more about those. They just thought that because of some stupid rules that society thought of being prudent, it hadn't to be the only right way.

Harry blushed when one of the sixth year Slytherin girls told them all about what they had found out. If a couple that was in love performed a certain ritual and united at Beltane their magic would be increased by a fourth. That was incredible. And what would be wrong if a couple in love did so? You couldn't get the effect if one partner forced the other into it. So there wasn't the fear of abuse. But the example showed how much knowledge had been forgotten and needed to be recollected. The students at Hogwarts were more than willed to do the first step in that direction and once again get their school to be the top educational institution in the world.

* * *

Dumbledore wanted to destroy something. Best of all Sirius Black. Thanks to that man all his carefully laid plans were destroyed. Harry Potter was free of his influence. The castle itself protected him and prevented that he could read his mind. He had tried and got a horrible headache. Harry excelled at his studies and was about to unite the four houses. Research groups had written out reports on certain topics from house elves to wizarding traditions. They would try to get the Ministry to change the ways the wizarding world was run. And with Sirius at the top there was a big chance that they would succeed. How didn't he know about those groups? He should know everything that was going on at Hogwarts as the headmaster, but recently the castle didn't tell him what he wanted to know anymore. It was as if something was blocking the information flow and the only good explanation was Harry's heir status.

The Ministry was cleaning up the mess that a decade under Bagnold and Fudge had caused; well, mostly it was Fudge's fault, but the idiot was such an easily influenced fool that he had allowed him to become Minister. Sirius was very efficient in combination with Amelia and Rufus. On top of that JWT had got hold in Britain and their products were hits with the population that hadn't known what kind of things could be created by combining muggle ideas with magic to get them to work. And again it had been Sirius who had helped them get started. Decades of work destroyed by one man that was a nuisance. He had intentionally sent the man to Azkaban.

He would have thwarted the plans for Harry by raising the boy to be confident as was proven now. With the Potter and Black fortunes at his disposal he could have done some things way earlier and all chances for him, Albus Dumbledore to get into his rightful position would have been destroyed. Now they were close to being destroyed. He had lost a lot of political clout. Thankfully so far he had got through the event fairly unscathed. Those that were dealt major blows were Umbridge, Malfoy, Fudge, the whole dark faction and those that had hidden under the corruption and incompetence of the Ministry. Many had been sacked and many arrested. This would lead to capable younger witches and wizards rising into the newly opened positions.

Sirius had always been a revolutionary. That was why he had tried to get the man loyal to him and had overlooked many things when he had been a boy at Hogwarts. Sadly that hadn't worked out as he had intended. Sirius had seen that you couldn't win a war if you were only allowed to stun your opponents. While he despised the dark arts, he wasn't above using a bone breaking curse to permanently take an opponent out of a fight. Or a cutting curse to a wand hand. Sirius had wanted to break the encrusted structures open and James Potter had been right at his side.

When the opportunity to get rid of Sirius for goo,d thanks to the grief fuelled bad decision of the normally highly intelligent man, he had taken it. Sirius Black couldn't be controlled. And a Harry Potter, the beacon of the light, that couldn't be controlled by Albus Dumbledore couldn't be allowed to happen. Things had gone to plan in Harry's first two years at Hogwarts, but then Sirius broke out of Azkaban, a feat that he had thought to be impossible for anybody besides him, and interfered again. He blood adopted Harry and effectively removed all the blocks and influence that he had placed on the boy. Now he needed to collect the shards and see what he could save. He knew that Sirius had only started his revolution. But if he thought that he, the rightful ruler of Wizarding Britain, Albus Dumbledore, would simply step down, he was dead wrong.

* * *

**And finished. I hope you liked the conclusion of this story. Watch out for the sequel I guess in about one or two months I should be ready to post at least one chapter a month. More I won't promise as I dont know how much time to write I have with my other stories also going on.**


	38. Announcement !

**Announcement**

**Hi, this is only an announcement that the sequel Embracing Destiny is up now. So the waiting ends now ;)**

**Happy reading.**


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